LUCKY?

[jim3860]

I was thinking to myself how lucky the rest of you were, to live in the real world , Lower 48 states that is. where large jbls abound and shipping is cheap A ll the speakers i have I had to get from there. I was feeling a lil envious even lol. Then i read a post on Rap music and the viloence that appears to be a part of that world. And i realized that there is a price to pay for living in a large city . Smog, violence , Taxes, rules, regs, Etc. Maybe it isnt no bad living here after all. Property is relatively cheap, Fresh air, minimal violence, property tax is all i have to pay as far as taxes go. I feel better now. Wonder what it cost to ship a large pair of jbls up here?

[Titanium Dome]

What you save each year in state taxes will buy some cool JBL gear and get it shipped to you. Consider it "free."

I paid over $6000 in state income tax last year. That doesn't include a few thousand more for CA's "special" deductions. I probably paid out another $5000 in sales tax @ 8.25% What could you buy and ship for ten to thirteen grand? Some pretty nice gear, I'm thinking.

Alaska's a beautiful place.

[4313B]

I paid over $6000 in state income tax last year. That doesn't include a few thousand more for CA's "special" deductions. I probably paid out another $5000 in sales tax @ 8.25%

Yeah but don't you guys have a significant amount of people to execute out there? I've heard that costs boat loads of cash. There was a time when all it cost was the price of a rope and maybe 10 minutes of lost production time e.g. from punching cows or panning for gold.

Oh that's right... then they got onto that scaffold building kick and the price went up. Lumber, construction costs, etc. It's escalated ever since. I saw recently in the middle east where they are still simply using a tree. The up front cash outlay is nil (zero if you steal or borrow a rope) and the birds and dogs negate the need for burial costs. I saw where someone decided to go high tech and hung several people from tow trucks. That's just dumb, especially if they wasted the fuel driving to the scene. There were several perfectly good trees in the background.

[Maron Horonzakz]

We burn them at the stake here and use the bonfire to roast marshmellows.

[norealtalent]

We burn them at the stake here and use the bonfire to roast marshmellows.

Too bad we can't start that practice in DC, the world would be a better place

[4313B]

Hmm. I've found that the burning human flesh taints the sweet taste of the marshmellows. It's probably just an aquired taste that I haven't mastered yet.

Oh well, back to sanding and finishing the subwoofers...

[JBLRaiser]

DNA testing should speed the process,no lawyers,no appeals, no doubt! Well, OK in a perfect world.

[jim campbell]

Try living up here in one of the most heavily taxed places on earth.Ask about our open door policy on violent criminals.Our government doesnt even feel that they should be inconvenienced much less incarcerated.Now they want to ban private ownership of handguns for those law abiding folks who might have them stolen and used by a criminal.Trust the cops and wait your turn to be victimized.Buy lots of insurance,alarms, car immobilizers,but if you harm an intruder you will probably face charges,not him.geez,too early for a rant but....... Ban Liberals not guns

[Steelyfan]

Try living up here in one of the most heavily taxed places on earth.Ask about our open door policy on violent criminals.Our government doesnt even feel that they should be inconvenienced much less incarcerated.Now they want to ban private ownership of handguns for those law abiding folks who might have them stolen and used by a criminal.Trust the cops and wait your turn to be victimized.Buy lots of insurance,alarms, car immobilizers,but if you harm an intruder you will probably face charges,not him.geez,too early for a rant but....... Ban Liberals not guns

Hello Jim, probably the place with the highest taxes is Belgium, the total percentage of direct and indirect taxes is about 60% of the income for average salaries. We get a lot in return for that, I am not complaining (that much).

[norealtalent]

Partial

...Ban Liberals not guns

Watch your generalized labels Friend. The problem is not the libs', cons' or the guns. The problem is exacerbated by the greed's and the sloth"s represented by some politician in the middle stealing our money to support the both of them. Until people stop emulating the hypocritical words of the deviant morons and start thinking for themselves like an evolving species, nothing will change. The problem is simply people, as is the solution...

[jim campbell]

Most of what we pay winds up in the pockets of bureaucracies and with no real accountability. the services we get cost way more than they should.When the government is involved they are fond of restricting freedoms if they feel that it costs them money.case in point, motorcycle helmet laws.the government is in a position of administering medicare funds and enacting traffic laws.We have traded away our freedom for what we percieve to be an easier life.Governments in their lust for cash constantly find ways to tax, fine,and service charge law abiding types with something to lose like jobs driver licences,property,and the like but have little interest in protecting us from criminals with nothing to lose.Every day violent offenders are released with no bail conditions,young offenders can kill and steal with no fear of the justice system.Violent assaults generally merit less time than drug offences.Rob 1 bank get 10 years,break into 100 houses and get probation.We have turned our police into blue suited tax collectors and armies of social workers tell us that with a little understanding young offenders will stop stealing our cars,burglarizing our homes, assaulting us in the streets,and fouling our neighborhoods with spray paint.I grew up when guys had rifles in racks in the windows of their trucks and nobody stole them and you were treated as responsible people.The sum total of our income taxes and consumption (vat)service, property taxes etc brings us very close to your level with the bulk of it paying for well placed friends of politicians.The picture is much rosier than the reality.

[jim campbell]

the Liberal with a capital L refers to our ruling Liberal party and not liberals in general

[norealtalent]

Partial

...We have traded away our freedom for what we percieve to be an easier life...

YOU SAID IT, now what are we going to do about it? We can throw stones at each other or... maybe something a little more useful, Friend

[jim campbell]

I really have no idea.Identifying the symptoms is one thing but solutions are something else.I think of the people who built our two nations and the obstacles that they overcame,the sacrifices they made.It is just sad to watch career politicians tear it apart.

[Titanium Dome]

Looks like your thread got 'jacked.

Anyway, maybe all the political whining is another reason to consider yourself lucky to be in Alaska. You've got some big time politics up there, I know, and the Feds throw a lot of bureaucracy at you, too, but I believe that you have a lot more personal freedom than most of the lower 48 and a much less onerous infrastructure to maintain.

For the rest of you 'Mericans, Boomers and others, we never finished the job started in the 60s and 70s, so who's to blame? Johnson and the Dems took all those glowing liberal ideals and co-opted them into Federal programs, which raised government expenditures and taxes. Nixon, Reagan, and now Bush took all those conservative ideals and co-opted them into Federal programs or into war, which raised government expenditures and took money out of the country.

No new taxes, eh? Just new debt. What do you call someone who just keeps spending, delays paying, then has no plan to pay? A deadbeat, right?

So liberal, conservative, moderate, who cares? We tried getting into the system to "work the revolution from the inside," and we all just co-opted into the system. We want to protect our 'Merican Dream, so we just get along.

'Merican Dream? California Dream? Less than 13% of the residents of Los Angeles can now afford to buy a house. Median price is over $480,000. LA has the highest poverty rate in the nation and the most homeless people. It's the third "fattest city," full of overweight, undernourished, unfit, fast-food-processed-food-gorged chubbies. The most crowded, dangerous freeways, some of the worst air pollution (thanks, Houston, for taking over), worst noise pollution, most disgusting vandalism and graffiti, most gangs and gang members, poorest schools (50% drop out between 6th and 9th grade in some schools, over 60% don't graduate). Other achievements: some of the highest rents, highest crime rates, highest asthma rates, highest cancer rates, highest divorce rates, highest domestic violence rates, highest sexual predator rates, highest child abuse rates, woo hoo! I'm just getting started!

Oh yeah: some of the highest taxes, biggest bureaucracies, and most red tape to get anything done.

OTOH, we do have a lot of JBLs available locally. But I'm always afraid someone will break in and steal them. Dammit, Giskard! Where's my ?