Unofficial Off Topic Thread

[CrazyHippie]

Hello; Seems New York City could be in for some interesting few years. I do not mean this comment to be about the newly elected mayor. More about a phenomenon which has been on the way for some time. Not a new concept to be sure. I have made comments on this before.
Over time the percentage of the population which goes to work and makes enough to actually pay net taxes has shrunk. The population which does not work or has a low wage job has grown.

For some time, I suspected the percentage of people who get by on other folks tax dollars has been equal to or greater than those who actually net pay. By net pay I mean those who only pay out taxes and do not get subsidized. I have known a few who technically file tax forms each year but wind up getting back more than they pay in. Went to public school with a fellow whose grandparents took care of him financially all his life. They set him up when they passed with a nice paid for house and a large bank account. He did odd jobs around his neighborhood and turned in for tax purposes only what was paid by a check. He would brag to me every year about how the government sent him back a check far above the modest amount of tax he paid in. This is one example of someone not paying net taxes. Perhaps there is a better term than net tax.

I get that young children, the disabled and the elderly do not generally pay taxes. This leaves able bodied adults to be taxpayers. I was a public-school teacher who never made more than $42K as salary for a school year. The average was in the mid $30K. I did take second, third and sometimes fourth jobs to make ends meet. I made it thru my adult life without taxpayer funded handouts.
I do have a modest pension from the state of KY. Taxpayer funded to be sure, but I leave it up to readers to decide if my pension is a handout or rather something I earned. At 65 I started getting SS benefits from those extra odd jobs done while teaching. My earned SS benefit was reduced greatly for around 12 years, from 65 years of age to 77 years of age. I drew around $200/month those 12 years. Starting last spring, I began to get the amount actually earned of around $700/month.
I do not know how it will work out this tax year after the no tax on SS benefits is rumored to be the rule. But I have been paying federal tax on my SS for the last 12 years. I think the no tax on SS is on a scale and is not absolute. I will know in a couple of months or so. Point of this long dialogue is to make the claim I have paid net taxes my entire life.

Back to the gist of this post. As a person born in 1947, I knew life before the welfare state was created. As a public-school teacher, I came to know entire families for whom government checks became a lifestyle.
Now in NYC it appears enough folks voted for "free stuff" in large enough numbers to make it happen. It will be interesting to see what happens. Will the net taxpayers who can move leave with their good paying jobs and take the tax base away? Will the "free stuff" actually happen?

I am pleased to live in TN. I already have met plenty of folks from NYC, California and such places. Glad i bought my house nearly 17 years ago as the new residents have driven housing way up. My area is Appalachia not far from my KY hometown and only 50 miles away from where I spent my adult life as a public-school teacher. We already had plenty of folks on a check lifestyle. Largely they did not bother to vote. I do suspect there could be enough numbers to vote in nationally for more "fee stuff". In case anyone has not cabbaged onto it, yet I do not think there is any "free stuff". Some of us actually have to pay for it.

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[sk47]

Hyundai Blocks American’s ‘Right to Repair’ Behind $2,000 Paywall
Hello; As a lifelong DIY'er I find this troubling.

 

[CrazyHippie]

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[HoosierDaddy]

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So.... basically self correcting.

 

[sk47]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...1&cvid=692106cba53940efad0927868f7b7631&ei=16

Hello; Another bear attack. This time on a large group of at least eleven. Some school kids and their teachers on a hike. Reported to be a grizzly. Add this to the reports out of Japan. are we in a Stephen King story?

 

[sk47]

Marketplace - Single Use Impact Hammer | Facebook

Hello; Single use hammer for sale?????

 

[HoosierDaddy]

 

[sk47]

Hello; Got a few minutes into the video but got called away. Will try to look at the rest later. I am curious as to what your take may be.
So far the most disturbing thing in the video is the guys truck was damaged during a search. If the guy is not compensated for the damage such will be the wrongdoing for me.

I am not surprised that authorities use cameras and software to watch us. I watch a lot of news as well as movie fiction which often uses current tech in the stories. We already know about facial recognition. Read somewhere that we each are on video many times whenever we leave our homes. I went to look at a shop building for sale near me a few days ago. There were cameras which tracked me and the owner and sent the images to his phone.

 

[sk47]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...1&cvid=69286ad6be9b481da08855740cecaf93&ei=50

Hello; looks like the "woke" stuff is not gone after all. I likely will never stop saying fireman even in the age of women in the jobs. By the way I found out why firemen wear red suspenders.

 

[sk47]

Fired For Surviving: 7-Eleven In Oklahoma Fires Overnight Clerk Who Shot Attacker Mid-Strangle

Hello; There is an old saying: Better to be judged by 12 than carried by six. In this case the store clerk was not punished by the legal system. A surprise on it's own. But she was fired by 7-eleven.

So, a modification. Better to be fired by 7-Eleven than carried by six. Not reported in the story, but I wonder what the store wanted her to do. Just let the guy strangle her to death???

 

[sk47]

'Professional tenants' trashed home while avoiding rent for 2 years. Taxpayers even chipped in $23K of assistance. But landlord must cover all costs

Hello; There is a theme going around that landlords are villians. I see it on the news often. The idea seems to be the person who pays for a building, does the upkeep and pays a mortgage is not entitled to offset those costs by getting rent. I get it is not always so simple.
The big kicker in this story being the taxpayer chipping in $23K renters of which they did not use for rent.

 

[sk47]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/r...&cvid=692efc497bcc4f3c94282b12eabe7675&ei=350

Hello; Here we go. Not a mauling, just an animal bite or few. I also put it high on my list of dumb moves of 2025. Brings up a question i will get to more later on about rescues.
Guy sees injured coon on road. Decides in what seems, to me, a convoluted logic train, to try to save it. Sticks the coon inside the coat he was wearing and starts driving it to be treated.
(Side note- brings up the potential lack of experience with wild animals. May be in PG movies or cartoons that the wild animal somehow knows you are trying to save it, but in reality, the animal does not get the message. A wild animal will scratch & bite a rescuer.)

Somewhere along the way the coon revives enough to bite the man's face and hands. He does not give up, however. He wraps the coon in a blanket and goes on. Gets to the destination where apparently it takes some effort to convince him to get rabies shots. Such are not fun. My brother had to have rabies shots after a dog attack by a family dog which did not have the shots. Painful & expensive.

Skip to the end. The coon was killed and did have rabies. Back to my rescue question. Which wild animals should we try to rescue? Which should we leave to their fate?

Side story- I used to be riding with a friend along the rural roads of TN, KY & VA. This guy would see a tortoise on the road. Would stop and pick up the tortoise. He would then drive along until he sees a place he felt would be nice for the animal and let it go. After a few such incidents I questioned the logic. For the tortoise the question was why not just put it across the road at the spot where it was already heading? The animal had some reason for going that way. Was it on the trail of a mate? Did it have an established territory/home area with good food? How does the animal look at the suitability of a spot vs how a human looks at the spot?

 

[sk47]

Hundreds of Porsches in Russia Have Reportedly Bricked, Satellite Tracking System May Be at Fault
Hello; I must admit this is something I have not thought about much. The technology that is. I sort of know about "On Star" and other such.
I also get the idea behind movie scenes in which a vehicle can be taken over remotely. The steering is electric. The throttle is fly by wire. Brakes can have electronic controls. I do not actually know if personal cars can be driven like an RC car.
The tech in the story is about Porsche cars. The particular tech may not be universal but apparently is on a lot of the cars. I can see the appeal of having such tech to track a person's car and even to shut it down (brick it) if the car is stolen.

May be this tech is not available on Fords. I do not know. So, this is a general question/observation. I already have walked away from new vehicles because of unwanted tech. Cylinder deactivation for example.
I have not made up my mind about dash controls being only on touch screens. May have to accept such as there are few options but do not like the idea.

 

[sk47]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddr...1&cvid=69302f1e690a4de89bd0760142b6da60&ei=13

Hello; This is a weird story to me. Made me think of the dogs in supermarkets thing which has been going on for some time. I understand and support true service dogs for the blind and similar situations. The dogs I see are just people's pets. I did ask at the local Krogers if all dogs are allowed. I was told the dogs need to have some sort of certification. As of a few years ago I was told the employees are not allowed to confront. I do not see a good long term end to this. A few dog bite lawsuits ought to fix things. There are some new signs posted.
Back to the "food influencers" story. Seems if you post on the internet the idea is stores ought to give you free food. Some sort of exchange for the posting about the food. As with everything else, it has gone too far. I do not find fault with a restaurant saying no to giving out free meals.

To be more clear. I picked the story to read because I thought it was some sort of "woke" or "progressive" notion I did not know anything about. At least it is not that bad.

Sometimes I bemoan how long it takes new stuff to make it's way into my area. Did not get decent internet until 2010. But more and more often i am pleased the new stuff in not here yet. No tick-tock door kickers that I know of. At least by following the news homeowners now know better than to shoot thru the door at a random knocker.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

https://reason.com/2025/12/03/audit...ubsidized-health-insurance-only-1-was-denied/

Surprised even one was rejected.

Over 58,000 with social security numbers of dead people receiving ~$94 million in tax credits.

No wonder one party is so anxious to keep this funded; probably lose that many votes if it's cut off.

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