This is what happens when you build pricey homes too close to our magnolias!
If you click on the pic on that link, you'll see a close-up shot of quite a conflagration. eek!
Full Version: If You Build it, We Will Come (and Burn it)!
damn....couldn't they have waited until the wealthy capitalists had moved in their belongings? 
no, it's better this way! if the wealthy capitalists had moved in their belongings, they likely would have been insured through the roof, and because of the very nature of insurance (share the risk) we'd all end up paying for the loss. buildings under construction are generally uninsurable, so the bulk of the loss is borne by the developer.
this arsonist knows what he or she is doing! i never understood why more smart people didn't go into crime......
this arsonist knows what he or she is doing! i never understood why more smart people didn't go into crime......
Not to worry folks, the federal govt has stepped in and awarded Halliburton Home Builders a contract to rebuild each home for a mere $8.9 billion each.
Love ya Raze! wink
QUOTE
this arsonist knows what he or she is doing! i never understood why more smart people didn't go into crime......
Although thankfully no one was hurt in this arson, this is really not a laughing matter, particularly as there was a serial arsonist running around DC already before this apparent eco-terrorism came to light. And this arsonist ONLY attacks occupied homes; one elderly woman has already died and dozens of homes have been attacked throughout the Capitol region in the past few months. When I first heard about this, I assumed the arsonist had simply upped the ante, but that does not appear to be the case right now. There was another arson last night tied to the serial arsonist - perhaps he got mad that another fire freak had gotten so much national attention for only one fire.
QUOTE
HotlantaTarheel:
damn....couldn't they have waited until the wealthy capitalists had moved in their belongings?
A small price to pay for freedom!
damn....couldn't they have waited until the wealthy capitalists had moved in their belongings?
There's another angle to this situation, at least according to the news story I heard on NPR this morning. Many of the buyers of the new homes in this subdivision are African-American, and most of the longtime residents of the area aren't. So race is another of many possible motives, none of which have been ruled out yet.
Think it couldn't happen? A Habitat for Humanity home in a mostly white neighborhood in Indiana was torched recently, just before a black family (much less affluent than those buying the Maryland homes) was going to move in.
So Earth First types aren't the only kind of vigilantes who might have done this. We won't know who or what they are until they're caught (if they ever are).
Think it couldn't happen? A Habitat for Humanity home in a mostly white neighborhood in Indiana was torched recently, just before a black family (much less affluent than those buying the Maryland homes) was going to move in.
So Earth First types aren't the only kind of vigilantes who might have done this. We won't know who or what they are until they're caught (if they ever are).
Danimal, Check your facts on that Hoosier fire. It happened in Gary, IN, which has had a Black majority population since the '70s, and the neighborhood in which it occurred is predominantly Black as well. I know; I grew up there.
Whatever, this possibility on the origin of the MD fire gives new meaning to the term "environmental racism." The Kaczynski-in-training who set a bunch of SUVs afire in SoCal was convicted of arson a few weeks ago and is awaiting sentencing. First cars, then houses, who's next?
Whatever, this possibility on the origin of the MD fire gives new meaning to the term "environmental racism." The Kaczynski-in-training who set a bunch of SUVs afire in SoCal was convicted of arson a few weeks ago and is awaiting sentencing. First cars, then houses, who's next?
"First cars, then houses, who's next?"
Vail, Colorado, October 17, 1998. Whodunnit? The possibilities are endless, sort of.
POWDER BURN: Arson, Money and Mystery On Vail Mountain
Vail, Colorado, October 17, 1998. Whodunnit? The possibilities are endless, sort of.
POWDER BURN: Arson, Money and Mystery On Vail Mountain
Stacking up papers for the recycling, I ran across an article from the Wednesday, December 1, issue of the Post, "Blacks Seek A Share Of Power In Charles." Google returned no hits, because the article had a new title for the online edition. In what has to be an amazing coincidence - or maybe not - this article ran mere days before the mass arson.
Note that the date of the online article is often one day ahead of the date that the article appears in the dead tree edition.
Seeking A Share Of Power In Charles
Note that the date of the online article is often one day ahead of the date that the article appears in the dead tree edition.
Seeking A Share Of Power In Charles
QUOTE
Blacks Growing In Numbers as County Changes
By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 1, 2004; Page B01
... [Charles County's] black population grew 25 percent from 2000 to 2003 -- the largest such gain for any county in Maryland -- and now accounts for 30 percent of county residents.
....
The county's burgeoning black community, however, has yet to convert its growth into political power. Charles has never had a black county commissioner or state legislator.
....
Recent census figures confirm that the demographic trend that started in the 1990s continues to change the face of Charles County. African Americans, many from Prince George's County and the District, accounted for 65 percent of the county's 12,000 new residents from 2000 through 2003.
Many of the newcomers are professional families, demographers said. More than half of Charles County's black households have incomes above $50,000, and nearly 70 percent are married couples with children, according to the 2000 Census.
....
Some attribute the lack of black participation to lingering racial tensions. As recently as 1994, the Ku Klux Klan rallied on the courthouse steps in La Plata. On Thanksgiving 1999, an anonymous flier calling on \"White Brothers & Sisters of Charles County\" to kill blacks was distributed across Waldorf, the northern section of the county that is the center of the African American population. \"No more [racial epithet] in Charles County!!!!!!\" it read.
....
By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 1, 2004; Page B01
... [Charles County's] black population grew 25 percent from 2000 to 2003 -- the largest such gain for any county in Maryland -- and now accounts for 30 percent of county residents.
....
The county's burgeoning black community, however, has yet to convert its growth into political power. Charles has never had a black county commissioner or state legislator.
....
Recent census figures confirm that the demographic trend that started in the 1990s continues to change the face of Charles County. African Americans, many from Prince George's County and the District, accounted for 65 percent of the county's 12,000 new residents from 2000 through 2003.
Many of the newcomers are professional families, demographers said. More than half of Charles County's black households have incomes above $50,000, and nearly 70 percent are married couples with children, according to the 2000 Census.
....
Some attribute the lack of black participation to lingering racial tensions. As recently as 1994, the Ku Klux Klan rallied on the courthouse steps in La Plata. On Thanksgiving 1999, an anonymous flier calling on \"White Brothers & Sisters of Charles County\" to kill blacks was distributed across Waldorf, the northern section of the county that is the center of the African American population. \"No more [racial epithet] in Charles County!!!!!!\" it read.
....
Whoops.
Security Guard Arrested In Maryland Arson Case
[quote]Suspect Worked For Security Firm
By Eric Rich and Sari Horwitz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 17, 2004; Page A01
A security guard for a company hired to protect construction sites at a Charles County subdivision was arrested yesterday and charged with setting fires last week that destroyed 10 unoccupied houses at the development and damaged 16 others.
Aaron L. Speed, 21, was taken into custody by federal agents in Charles County yesterday while undergoing a polygraph test, several law enforcement sources said. Speed, who spent time at the subdivision as a guard for Security Services of America, is scheduled to appear this morning before a magistrate judge at U.S. District Court in Greenbelt to face a charge of arson.
....[/url]
Oh, dear. Federal offense.
Security Guard Arrested In Maryland Arson Case
[quote]Suspect Worked For Security Firm
By Eric Rich and Sari Horwitz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 17, 2004; Page A01
A security guard for a company hired to protect construction sites at a Charles County subdivision was arrested yesterday and charged with setting fires last week that destroyed 10 unoccupied houses at the development and damaged 16 others.
Aaron L. Speed, 21, was taken into custody by federal agents in Charles County yesterday while undergoing a polygraph test, several law enforcement sources said. Speed, who spent time at the subdivision as a guard for Security Services of America, is scheduled to appear this morning before a magistrate judge at U.S. District Court in Greenbelt to face a charge of arson.
....[/url]
Oh, dear. Federal offense.
Whoops.
Security Guard Arrested In Maryland Arson Case
Security Guard Arrested In Maryland Arson Case
QUOTE
Suspect Worked For Security Firm
By Eric Rich and Sari Horwitz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 17, 2004; Page A01
A security guard for a company hired to protect construction sites at a Charles County subdivision was arrested yesterday and charged with setting fires last week that destroyed 10 unoccupied houses at the development and damaged 16 others.
Aaron L. Speed, 21, was taken into custody by federal agents in Charles County yesterday while undergoing a polygraph test, several law enforcement sources said. Speed, who spent time at the subdivision as a guard for Security Services of America, is scheduled to appear this morning before a magistrate judge at U.S. District Court in Greenbelt to face a charge of arson.
....
Oh, dear. Federal offense.
By Eric Rich and Sari Horwitz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 17, 2004; Page A01
A security guard for a company hired to protect construction sites at a Charles County subdivision was arrested yesterday and charged with setting fires last week that destroyed 10 unoccupied houses at the development and damaged 16 others.
Aaron L. Speed, 21, was taken into custody by federal agents in Charles County yesterday while undergoing a polygraph test, several law enforcement sources said. Speed, who spent time at the subdivision as a guard for Security Services of America, is scheduled to appear this morning before a magistrate judge at U.S. District Court in Greenbelt to face a charge of arson.
....
Hadn't considered the inside job possibility, but it's entirely plausible. When cops say they're "not ruling anything out" they usually have their reasons.
Still doesn't tell us why, though. Insurance fraud? Munchausen syndrome? Unabomber tendencies? Meth habit? This could still get weirder.
Still doesn't tell us why, though. Insurance fraud? Munchausen syndrome? Unabomber tendencies? Meth habit? This could still get weirder.
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