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Where I live we elect our officials and charge them with the responsibility of spending the money to our best benefit. Should one decide to do differently with our money we simply elect someone else to replace them. It is called the democratic way of living.
In order to have these benefits we must pay taxes. When we start trying to find ways to not pay taxes then the entire population suffers. As one man once put it, “to skip out on our taxes is treason”
Should we disagree with the way our government is run we the people change it through elections. If we don’t vote it is like saying, “what ever you do is fine with me”
Hello all,
I would like to know where all the Lottery money and Sin Tax money goes.
That should be enough to pay for our Teachers, Inspectors and Policemen. Since we all Sin and Gamble.
I know I have paid 33 % of my income on taxes, And that did not include sales tax on gas or sin tax.
We are now close to approaching 50 %, If you count all the taxes that You pay.
Have a Great Day.
DonL
Don't pay someone to do a job fast, when you can do a half-fast job yourself.
I have paid millions in taxes, and the cost benefit ratio is about the same as playing slot machines.
How can one be inspired to pay taxes when the county road department has 6 guys filling potholes, 4 of which are smoking cigarettes? And they have free health care, every holiday off that one can imagine, and 9 out of 10 have the skill level of my 7 year old on a tractor?
And in order to fire one of these guys, it would take the supreme court. They graded a gravel road here by my property. Looked like someone sprinkled a load of grapefruit size rocks for 2 miles down the road. Cars had to weave around like drunks in order to not loose the oil pan. Finally, I had to take my backhoe and grade the road - "My tax dollars at work". The only ones that do good work are the youth prison gangs they send out to clear brush along the road.
As to the fire departments, egad! In our hundred year fire storm, the fire department assured all the locals they would give each house a truck and stand by. Only the 3 or 4 of us that stood firm have houses now, and the rest of the neighborhood looked like Dresden. I drove about just after the main flames passed through, and not a single "public servant" was anywhere to be seen. I could have saved 10 houses with a single garden hose each.
Treason is public servants abandoning their posts, and entitlements to road workers that should stocking shelves at kmart.
I saw a news clip a couple years back detailing what you are describing. I don't know if it was your area or someplace else, but 80 percent of the houses in the development had burned. The reporter was interviewing the property owners who still had houses and all of them stayed behind to defend their homes. What amazed me is that you would have a completely untouched house, and the houses on either side would be burnt to the ground - nothing standing. Watching the clip the thing I thought was criminal was that the fire department had promised to defend the neighborhood and then in the end was nowhere to be found.Originally Posted by ballvalve
Good to hear your house made it through, although I can't say I'm all that surprised
-rick
There is a fire that is burning hundreds of acres and yes these acres have homes on them.
Fire fighters are steadily fighting this out of control fire trying their best to bring it under control but every homeowner wants a truck parked in their yard to save their home.
Does this make very much sense? How can these people be at both places at one time?
I understand that someone that is about to lose everything they own wanting every available fire fighter to be standing right there to protect their homes but at the same time there has to be someone to fight the main body of the fire and this is where those fire fighters were at instead of having a truck in every yard.
To compare this type of fire to what we were discussing is totally out of text. Why not bring the destruction of Mt. Saint Helen into the discussion. Where were all the public servants at when this happened? Look at all the loss that happened there.
As to the dirt road it is a simple matter of having the road paved. Of course this would mean a higher tax if this is what you want. If you don’t want the higher taxes then the dirt road is what you will have, can’t have it both ways.
Hello All,
Speaking of roads. I live in a rural area, out of city limits.
A few years back they repaved a county road with blacktop, It was very nice and smooth, A job well done.
When one of the local politicians found out about it, She wanted her road paved also.
There was no money in the budget to do her road that year, She would have to wait.
She could not wait, So they came back Two weeks later and removed the blacktop from the nicely paved road, And put it in front of her house on her road.
Guess who got in trouble ? The road crew that did the work, Only doing what they were ordered to do.
The road that was perfectly fine after being paved, is now a safety hazard. But her road was new.
Now you talk about Taxes being wasted, That was one of the dumbest things I have seen.
And people wonder why we don't trust where our tax dollars go ?.
I go by what I see, not what they tell me. They say what you want to here so they get your vote.
Then when they get in office, it is a totally different story.
In Houston, the new Mayor said I will not raise your taxes, If you vote for me.
Then after she won , she just starting calling all her new taxes "Fees". B.S.
I was born at night, but not last night.
Have a great day.
DonL
Last edited by DonL; 05-03-2011 at 07:51 AM.
Don't pay someone to do a job fast, when you can do a half-fast job yourself.
The point is that it was a good gravel road UNTIL the county maintained it. Lack of skill and enthusiasm turned it into a river bed at our expense. When you grade roads with subsurface rocks, you need a rake, or a few rockpickers following. Probably it was quitting time, and the guy on the grader was low on skill.As to the dirt road it is a simple matter of having the road paved. Of course this would mean a higher tax if this is what you want. If you don’t want the higher taxes then the dirt road is what you will have, can’t have it both ways.
As to the firefighters, they didnt pick a few defensible places to save, they just left the area. Many houses were destined to burn, as the owners made no effort for brush clearance, and built with dry old wood siding. And large eave vents that let embers into the attic.
I built a house of cement and stucco, no eaves and no eave vents. 1" sprinkler on the roof. Generator. All for about the cost of a 50" TV and entertainment center with accessories. But some houses were saved by bizarre miracle that had fire burning right up to the cedar siding, and other by a guy with a little hose just putting out spot fires. Australia has a program to tell people to stay, as most fires are caused just by embers dropping about the yard and roof.
Building codes now require sprinklers inside, tempered glass everywhere, and self closing vents with 1 hour siding. But the roof sprinkler was left out, the key item.
As to volcanoes, there is just one policy, public and private: Run.
Last edited by ballvalve; 05-03-2011 at 11:04 AM.
Hello All,
When someone tells me to leave my home, For a hurricane or whatever, I would not.
They would have a problem removing me from my Homestead.
My life may be at risk, But I want it at my risk, Not someone that tells me what is good for me.
You can protect yourself and your loved ones.
Some people run from danger, I chose to face the dangers of life. That is a natural born instinct, In the real world.
If people live around volcanoes, they should know the risk. Just like living on a river. It is nice for awhile.
P.S. Same thing goes for living near a nuclear plant.
Enjoy Your Day, Take time too Play...
DonL
Last edited by DonL; 05-03-2011 at 12:22 PM. Reason: P.S.
Don't pay someone to do a job fast, when you can do a half-fast job yourself.
Hello all,
Ballvalve, You said "I built a house of cement and stucco"
Did You use Cement Blocks, or did you pour the cement walls ?
I was going to build a Hurricane shelter, Thought I would make it round, with 1 level underground and 1 above with a top deck.
I wanted it to be solar powered, maybe a small generator.
Did you design yours, or go by some sort of plans ?
Sounds like you have a pretty cool setup, sounds real nice.
Have a Great Day.
DonL
Don't pay someone to do a job fast, when you can do a half-fast job yourself.
I am the designer and builder. At the time they made a 16x16" concrete block with two cores, one for steel and cement and another for vermiculite or foam. Dry stacked them for about 1.5 stories, with many 1" threaded rods to pretension it to the foundation. Other areas and stories of large timbers sawn on site and redwood framing. Sheathed with boat-ply [you will never touch the home-dopey stuff again after using real plywood], then 1" of fiber reinforced stucco.
Essentially flat roofs with a parapet wall - small eaves, but of poured concrete. Crushed slate on the roof, and all interior floors poured concrete for radiant and fire resistance between floors, as in a hotel. Be sure never to have any wood decks on a house - I poured cement over timbers, or used cantilevers.
This is a gold mill - water mill site from the 1850's, so it steps down a hill toward 2 streams. I have two wine-root cellars that I cut and cover into the mountainside, one over 70' deep, so such a back-up is essential in case things got dicey. A company now sells a sensor system that detects heat from an oncoming wildfire and turns on misters on eaves and roof. You dont need a lot of water, just a lot of humidity.
I would definitely have a hurricane shelter, but one would have to consider the likelyhood of being buried and then flooded in it.
Last edited by ballvalve; 05-04-2011 at 10:20 AM.
Very Nice ballvalve,
It sounds like you did it right. Looks very nice.
That looks like Gods country. It must be very nice to live there.
All we have here is flatland. And Water Seeks it own level. I am about 30 feet above sea level.
Thank You for sharing. That is very cool.
DonL
Don't pay someone to do a job fast, when you can do a half-fast job yourself.
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