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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Wed Nov 2nd, 2005 04:56 pm |
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You gota be shittin me....A view tax?????
`View tax' triggers revolt in rural New Hampshire
By Katharine Webster, Associated Press Writer
ORFORD, N.H. --The one-room cabin David Bischoff built in a cow pasture three years ago has no electricity, no running water, no phone service and no driveway.
What it does have is a wide-open view of the surrounding hills -- a view valued at $140,000, according to the latest townwide property revaluation.
The so-called "view tax" increased the value of his property sevenfold, from $22,900 to $162,900, a figure he believes is far more than its actual value. He expects a sharp jump in his $500 annual property taxes as well.
"I'd be happy if they assessed me $50,000 for the view," said Bischoff, who is chairman of the Board of Selectmen.
He and Selectman Paul Carreiro voted last month to reject the townwide assessment by Avitar Associates of New England until the state comes up with clear, objective standards for valuing views. Their vote put Orford at the forefront of a growing protest movement.
State officials say there is no such thing as a "view tax" and that tax assessments have always reflected factors that enhance market value -- including the indisputable value of having a beautiful view or waterfront.
State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Taylor attributes the controversy to an influx of second-home buyers and retirees willing to pay top dollar for beautiful views in once-sleepy rural towns like Orford, population 1,040.
"There are too many dollars chasing too few views and they're running the values way up," Taylor said.
Gary Roberge, president of Avitar, agrees.
"There's been a huge change in property values in this area," he said.
Roberge admits there's a subjective element to assessments, and said that's why there is an abatement process. But the revaluation was sound overall, he said.
"I'm not suggesting that I'm God or anything, but if you look at everything in Orford, it's consistent," he said.
Carreiro argues the state's rural character is at stake, because high "view taxes" will force farmers to sell to developers and price rural residents out of homes their families have lived in for generations. Sprawling development also will hurt tourism, he says.
Orford, which overlooks the Connecticut River and has views of Vermont and the White Mountains, has a number of farms and family timber-growing operations.
"We're trying to talk about preserving open space in this state," Carreiro told the state Board of Tax and Land Appeals last week. "This is going to destroy the fabric of our communities -- people on fixed incomes, the elderly, young families."
The board is expected to rule soon on the legality of Orford's action.
Guy Petell, director of property appraisals for the state, sympathizes with homeowners stung by the dark side of the rapidly appreciating real estate market. But it's apparent from real estate ads and sales that properties with views fetch a premium, and it would be unfair to homeowners without views if assessors ignored that, Petell said.
While 129 Orford property owners were assessed for views, another 500 were not -- and most of them want the town to use the new assessments, according to Selectwoman Ann Green, who abstained from the vote to reject Avitar's revaluation.
Taylor says the underlying problem is the "perversity" of New Hampshire's heavy reliance on property taxes. The state has no general income or sales tax, and the resultant high property taxes are especially burdensome to homeowners who are land-rich but income-poor.
Though premiums for great views have always been part of tax assessments, firms like Avitar only recently began breaking out the "view factor" as a separate line item on assessment forms. That helped draw a crowd of farmers and rural homeowners to a recent Statehouse hearing on the need for standards for assessing views.
John Lynch, a farmer from Hill, said the "view tax" threatens the survival of family farms. While farmers get a tax break on agricultural land, they don't get one for the farmhouse.
"There's not a farm in the state that doesn't have some type of view," Lynch said. "The assessors say, `We're not assessing farmland. We're assessing the farmhouse.' On a family farm, it's all one unit and you're jeopardizing the farm itself."
John Chandler, a retired engineer and former state legislator who also lives in Hill, objects to paying for a distant view of the White Mountains because he doesn't own it and can't control it.
A revaluation last year doubled the base value of his property, although Chandler said the view is obscured by air pollution much of the time.
Besides, he's legally blind.
"What if the landowner is blind?" he said. "I'm not enjoying that view, at least not as much as Avitar thinks I should be."
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empty
Supporter
| Joined: | Tue Jun 28th, 2005 |
| Location: | Plano, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 1658 |
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Posted: Fri Oct 28th, 2005 06:38 pm |
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Dave wrote: marc wrote:
Throw her miserable ass in jail....
No doubt...
But, what kind of luck is that? I mean, it's a bitch to actually win the lottery, then doing it on a ticket bought with a stolen credit card and get caught? Pure Karma.
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Oct 28th, 2005 06:36 pm |
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marc wrote:
Throw her miserable ass in jail....
No doubt...
But, what kind of luck is that? I mean, it's a bitch to actually win the lottery, then doing it on a ticket bought with a stolen credit card and get caught?
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Oct 28th, 2005 06:31 pm |
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| Throw her miserable ass in jail....
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Oct 28th, 2005 06:28 pm |
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Oh man, ain' this a bitch...
Lottery Officials Say Winner Used Stolen Card To Buy Ticket
POSTED: 5:24 am PDT October 28, 2005
MEDFORD, Ore. -- A woman bought a winning lottery ticket worth $1 million with a stolen credit card and could wind up with nothing if convicted, police said.
Christina Goodenow, 38, of White City in southern Oregon faced numerous theft-related charges, forgery and possession of methamphetamine, said authorities, who searched her home Thursday. The card belonged to a deceased relative, they said.
If convicted of any of the charges, Goodenow will not be able to collect prize money from the winning ticket, said police Lt. Tim George.
Oregon Lottery officials refused to discuss specifics of the case because an investigation is still under way.
"I'll be fascinated to see how this shakes out," Lottery spokesman Chuck Baumann said. "In my 12 years with the Oregon Lottery, this is the first time I've encountered something like this."
Goodenow purchased the winning ticket Oct. 9 using a credit card that had belonged to her mother-in-law, who died more than a year ago, police said.
Goodenow traveled to Oregon Lottery headquarters in Salem on Oct 12 to accept an installment payment of $33,500. The $1 million grand prize is paid out over 20 years.
Detectives began tracking Goodenow on Wednesday after learning that she had used the credit card to purchase several items, including the ticket.
A search warrant served at her home Thursday turned up some methamphetamine, but little money, George said.
"Our investigation is still trying to determine what happened to the $33,500," George said.
http://www.nbc4.tv/irresistible/5195799/detail.html
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Oct 28th, 2005 11:59 am |
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Scum Bags....
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Fraud in the U.N. oil-for-food scheme for Iraq reached from inside the French government to a former Vatican aide and namebrand companies, sending a sobering message about the state of global business, the chief investigator said after publishing his conclusions on what went awry.
"There's a lot of corruption in the world," Paul Volcker told The Associated Press on Thursday, when he released his scathing final report on the 18-month investigation.
The former Federal Reserve chairman's team found that more than 2,200 companies and individuals, or about half of all those involved in the humanitarian program, paid kickbacks and illegal surcharges to win lucrative contracts while Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein pocketed $1.8 billion - at the expense of his people who were suffering under U.N. sanctions.
But the report stressed that Saddam was able to keep filling his coffers primarily because of shoddy U.N. management and failures by the world's most powerful nations, which allowed the racket to go on for years.
"What I do want to emphasize is that the corruption of the program by Saddam ... could not have been nearly so pervasive had there been more disciplined management by the U.N. and its agencies," said Volcker.
The report is almost certain to be followed by action on two fronts: national investigations and possible prosecutions of those named in the report and fresh efforts to reform the United Nations. Interim reports in Volcker's investigation have already led to criminal inquiries and indictments in the United States, Switzerland and France, and Volcker said his team would cooperate with legal actions in following up on his findings.
Switzerland said Thursday it has launched a criminal investigation focusing on four people connected to the oil-for-food program. They were not identified.
And Texas oilman Oscar S. Wyatt Jr, the former chairman of Coastal Corp. who was described in the report as a favorite customer of Iraq, pleaded not guilty Thursday in New York to charges that he conspired to pay several million dollars in illegal kickbacks to Saddam's regime to win oil-for-food contracts. Volcker said Wyatt, 81, was the lone exception to an Iraqi ban on selling oil to American companies.
The program achieved "an important measure of success" in providing food, medicine and other humanitarian items to Iraqis, and in keeping weapons of mass destruction out of Saddam's hands, Volcker said.
"But that success came with a high cost and in my judgment, a really intolerable cost by grievously wounding the confidence and the competence and even the integrity of the United Nations."
The United States said the investigation again showed the need for urgent reform of the United Nations.
"I do think it does highlight that there are certain management practices within the U.N. that need reform," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
The 623-page report documented in minute detail Saddam's manipulation of the $64 billion oil-for-food operation. The program, which ran from 1996-2003, allowed Iraq to sell limited and then unlimited quantities of oil provided most of the money went to buy humanitarian goods such as food and medicine. It was meant to alleviate the suffering of ordinary Iraqis caused by U.N. sanctions imposed after Saddam's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
But Saddam, who could choose the buyers of Iraqi oil and the sellers of humanitarian goods, corrupted the program by awarding contracts to - and getting kickbacks from - favored buyers.
The report named some high-profile individuals and companies including a former French interior minister, Charles Pasqua; Rev. Jean-Marie Benjamin, a priest who once worked as an assistant to the Vatican secretary of state and opposed Iraqi sanctions; carmakers DaimlerChrysler AG, Volvo and South Korea's Daewoo International; and industrial giants Siemens AG.
Jean-Bernard Merrimee, France's former U.N. ambassador, received $165,725 in commissions from oil allocations awarded to him by the Iraqi regime. He is now under investigation in France and has denied any wrongdoing.
Other "political beneficiaries" included British lawmaker George Galloway; Roberto Formigoni, the president of the Lombardi region in Italy; Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who heads Russia's Liberal Democratic Party; and Alexander Voloshin, who at the time was chief of staff in the administration of Russia's president. They have all denied wrongdoing.
It also alleged oil companies including Texas-based Bayoil and Coastal Corp., Russian oil giant Gazprom, and Lukoil Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of Russia's Lukoil were caught up in the scandal.
The investigators found that companies and individuals from 66 countries paid illegal kickbacks using a variety of methods, and those paying illegal oil surcharges came from, or were registered in, 40 countries.
Most of the contracts went to Russian and French companies and individuals, who were rewarded for their governments' outspoken opposition to the sanctions. Still, even firms in countries supportive of the sanctions, such as the United States, found ways to manipulate the system illegally - sometimes by using Russian firms as middlemen.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday voiced skepticism about the report, saying some of the documents relating to the alleged collusion between Saddam's regime and Russian officials were forged.
But many little-known businesses in the developing world made large payments to get contracts.
"Big companies tended to be involved in a small way" while small companies "are heavily involved," Volcker told AP.
The report gave several examples of just how companies and Saddam colluded to manipulate the program.
It alleged German car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler's won oil-for-food contracts worth about $5.2 million to sell Iraq spare parts and vehicles. The contracts were paid out of a U.N. bank account funded by Iraqi oil sales, also administered by the U.N.
One of those contracts was to sell Iraq's oil ministry a Mercedes armored van worth about $70,000. As a sweetener, a DaimlerChrysler agent signed a secret deal to give Iraq a $7,000 kickback - 10 percent of the van's value.
When the final contract for the van was submitted for U.N. approval, the price of the truck was inflated to include that amount. That meant that the U.N. fund ended up paying DaimlerChrysler for the kickback.
DaimlerChrysler said it was aware of the report but declined to comment because of ongoing investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department.
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Tue Oct 25th, 2005 09:12 pm |
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zippo wrote: Smebody ought to shoot the parents and then drown the kids!
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1231684&page=1
What a sick society we live in....
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Babe
Supporter
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Posted: Tue Oct 25th, 2005 09:08 pm |
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Holy Crap! Those poor lil girls will never have a chance to create their own beliefs! Not to mention they will miss out on meeting alot of unique caring folks, that also happen not to be the same "race" as them!! sheesh
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Abo
Supporter
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Posted: Tue Oct 25th, 2005 08:45 pm |
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| Hey man. Zippo, I couln't say it no better than you. Ride Free. Abo
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zippo
Supporter
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Posted: Tue Oct 25th, 2005 08:30 pm |
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Smebody ought to shoot the parents and then drown the kids!
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1231684&page=1
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Sun Oct 23rd, 2005 07:33 pm |
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How phuckin stupid can you be????????
Girl May Lose Arm After School Snake Bite
A 14-year-old girl may lose her arm after being bitten by a poisonous copperhead snake at school, authorities said.
The snake was caught in Valley Forge by a 17-year-old male student, who took it in a shoebox to a drama club gathering at St. Pius X High School on Friday, Lower Pottsgrove Police Chief Ray Bechtel said. No regular classes were held that day, which was designated for staff development.
The boy was showing the reptile to other students when it bit the girl's finger, Bechtel said.
The girl, whose name was not released by police, apparently threw the snake across the room and the boy threw it outside. The snake was not found, but authorities were able to identify it because the boy photographed it with his camera cellphone, said Bechtel.
The victim was treated at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center about 45 minutes after being bitten, he said.
"The doctors said if it had been a half-hour longer she would likely have been dead," said Bechtel.
However, police said she could still lose her arm.
Police did not have an update on the girl's condition Sunday. She had been in very serious condition at Hershey Medical Center.
No charges were filed but police said they were investigating.
Copperhead snake bites are typically not fatal but are extremely painful and may cause extensive scarring and loss of limb use, according to the North Carolina Cooperative Extension of North Carolina State University.
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Oct 22nd, 2005 02:37 pm |
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http://www.vtwinbbs.com/forum17/1205.html
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Oct 22nd, 2005 02:27 pm |
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| Again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Oct 22nd, 2005 11:08 am |
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Motorcycle Officer Injured In Burbank Crash
Crash Is Fourth This Month Involving Motorcycle Officer
POSTED: 4:06 pm PDT October 21, 2005
UPDATED: 4:31 pm PDT October 21, 2005
LOS ANGELES -- A police motorcycle officer was injured Friday afternoon in a crash near Hollywood Way and Victory Boulevard in Burbank.
# Oct. 11: Motorcycle Deputy Killed On Way To Traffic Collision
# Oct. 12: Motorcycle Officer Injured In Hollywood Freeway Crash
# Oct. 13, 2005: Car Strikes Motorcycle Officer In Santa Ana
The officer was hospitalized. Authorities said his injuries were minor.
The crash is the fourth this month involving a motorcycle officer in Southern California.
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/5147247/detail.html
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Oct 22nd, 2005 12:44 am |
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Interesting....From another board...
A nation of sheeple
Oct 19, 2005
by Walter E. Williams ( bio | archive | contact )
President Bush informed the nation, during a press conference, that he might seek to use the U.S. military to quarantine parts of the nation should there be a serious outbreak of the deadly avian flu that has killed millions of chickens and 60-some people in Southeast Asia. That's the second time Bush has expressed a desire to use the military for local policing. The first was in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C. 1385) generally prohibits federal military personnel and units of the U.S. National Guard under federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the U.S. Constitution or Congress.
Enacted during Reconstruction, the purpose of the Posse Comitatus Act was to severely limit the powers of the federal government to use the military for local law enforcement. Would Americans tolerate such a gigantic leap in the federalization of law enforcement? I'm guessing the answer is yes. In the name of safety, we've undergone decades of softening up to accept just about any government edict that our predecessors would have found offensive. Let's look at some of it.
The anti-smoking movement might be the beginning of the softening up process. They started out calling for reasonable actions like no-smoking sections on airplanes. Then it progressed to no smoking on airplanes altogether, then private establishments such as restaurants and businesses. Emboldened by the timidity of smokers, in some jurisdictions there are ordinances banning smoking in outdoor places such as beaches and parks. Then there are seatbelt and helmet laws that have sometimes been zealously enforced through the use of night vision goggles. On top of this, Americans accept government edicts on where your child may ride in your car. Americans sheepishly accepted all sorts of Transportation Security Administration nonsense. In the name of security, we've allowed fingernail clippers, eyeglass screwdrivers and toy soldiers to be taken from us prior to boarding a plane.
We've accepted federal intrusion in our financial privacy through the Bank Secrecy Act. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, says, "More than 99.999 percent of those had their privacy invaded were law-abiding citizens going about their own personal financial business." Most recently there's the U.S. Supreme Court Kelo decision, where the court held that local governments can take a private person's house and turn it over to another private person. Politicians have learned and become comfortable with the fact that today's Americans will docilely accept just about any legalized restraint on their behavior.
You say, "Hey, Williams, but it's the law!" In the late-1700s, the British Parliament enacted the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts, and imposed other grievances that are enumerated in our Declaration of Independence. I'm happy that we didn't have today's Americans around at the time to bow before King George III and say, "It's the law." Respectful of the Posse Comitatus Act, President Bush has suggested that he'll ask Congress to amend the law to allow for the use of the U.S. military to enforce regional quarantines. Whether Congress amends the law or not, Bush has no constitutional authority to deploy military troops across the land. Why?
The U.S. Constitution's Article IV, Section 4 reads, "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence." Coupled with the Tenth Amendment, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," this means short of an insurrection, the U.S. military must be invited by a state legislature or executive. Any federal law that violates these constitutional provisions is null and void and can only be enforced through fear, intimidation and brute military force.
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Babe
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Oct 21st, 2005 10:00 pm |
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Dave wrote: Zippo... You been in California lately? ROTFLMAO!
The robber is 27 to 35 years old, 5 feet 10 inches with a medium build, Hartford said.
27-35?......nope cant be Zippo...
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Oct 21st, 2005 07:27 pm |
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Zippo... You been in California lately? ROTFLMAO!
Police: 'Big Nose' Bandit Strikes Again
US Bank Robbery Might Be Work Of 'Big Nose' Bandit
POSTED: 11:22 am PDT October 21, 2005
LOS ANGELES -- A bank robbery in Corona del Mar was the work of the so-called "Big Nose" bandit, who is thought to have committed some 17 similar hold-ups in Southern California, police said Friday.
Images
The man entered the US Bank, 21181 Newport Coast Drive, just before 5 p.m., Thrusday and passed a demand note to a teller, said Newport Beach police Sgt. Bill Hartford.
He opened a black bag containing a pistol and was given an undisclosed amount of cash before getting away on foot, Hartford said.
The robber is nicknamed for his prominent nose, which, Hartford said, "everybody's of the opinion it's real."
He robbed a bank in Corona del Mar in July, Hartford said. Earlier, sheriff's representatives said the bandit is believed to have committed eight bank robberies in Orange County.
The robber is 27 to 35 years old, 5 feet 10 inches with a medium build, Hartford said.
Anyone with information was asked to contact the Newport Beach Police Department at (800) 550-6273, or the FBI at (714) 542-8825.
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/5145165/detail.html
Last edited on Fri Oct 21st, 2005 07:27 pm by Dave |
weasle
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Oct 21st, 2005 06:34 pm |
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| dave does this have any connection to that humpty - dumpty tragedy years ago ??? LMAO
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Oct 21st, 2005 04:55 pm |
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weasle wrote: hell im serving on call for jury duty right now in my county, figure it part of your duty as a citizen. I agree 100% Weasle.....I found it to be an interesting experience and frustrating at times but everyone should do it.....I served on Grand Jury last year and that was actually fun....
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Oct 21st, 2005 03:07 pm |
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It is a picture of the demise of a suicide jumper taken shortly after he landed. It shows him with his insides now on the outside. You will see the look of horror on the faces of the bystanders.
The faces of the bystanders is why I believe this is real.
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