Cynical, Aloof, and Insatiable
(zerohedge) While the political class freely taps into outsized debt programs, it urges citizens to adopt austerity measures. The increasingly brazen plundering of taxpayers’ dwindling resources signals the emergence of a detached state aristocracy in Berlin.
Two legendary quips—likely apocryphal—best capture the decadent twilight of the French monarchy. One is Madame de Pompadour’s fatalistic remark after the crushing French defeat at Roßbach in 1757: “Après moi, le déluge”—“After me, the flood.” Let others deal with the aftermath.
The second is Marie Antoinette’s infamous line, allegedly uttered when informed the starving masses lacked bread: “Let them eat brioche.” Though doubtful in historicity, both lines remain enduring symbols of elite arrogance and detachment.
One needn’t search the archives of Versailles to observe such disdain today. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has repeatedly scolded citizens for complacency. At a CDU economic summit in May, he warned that “a four-day workweek and work-life balance alone won’t preserve prosperity” and called for labor reforms and stronger German leadership in the EU.
Perhaps he’s right. But in Germany’s welfare paradise, such pronouncements—especially from those who have benefited most—feel gallingly tone-deaf. Merz critiques the very citizens who, through their toil, sustain the fantasy of a universal welfare state.
This is from the man responsible for the most lavish debt spree in modern German history—a figure emblematic of a political elite either unwilling or incapable of addressing Germany’s structural failings. While everyday Germans endure inflation, mass migration, and overregulation, their rulers refuse even minimal reform despite access to princely tax revenues.
Joining Merz in the choir of moralizers is President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has called for a “more modest” lifestyle.
Yet this same Steinmeier billed taxpayers €205 million for a temporary office during renovations to Bellevue Palace—without so much as considering renting existing office space. Such extravagance seems to elevate him to a special tier within Berlin’s elite.
A Pay Bump for the Nobility
Money appears to be of little concern in these circles. While citizens juggle inflation and taxes, lawmakers wonder aloud: “What exactly is the people’s problem?” Perhaps they should start with their salaries. Since 2013, Bundestag salaries have climbed 43% automatically, annually on July 1st. Today, a German MP earns over €11,800 per month—more than double the national average gross salary. After 20 years, they enjoy pensions exceeding 70% of their salary, in addition to their state pension, if applicable.
Ordinary citizens, by contrast, have seen real wage growth of under 10% since 2013.
In the private sector, income and pensions are hard-won through skill and sustained effort—an ethic worthy of respect.
In politics and public administration, however, taxpayer-funded budgets support careerists who have escaped the market’s performance principle. This, more than anything, defines today’s state aristocracy: an elite living in a risk-free economic parallel universe, cushioned by government agencies and NGOs that transform employment into a full-coverage entitlement.
Media Hegemony and Thought Control
Controlling the budget is only part of this power. The state aristocracy also commands the media ecosystem. Beyond the publicly funded broadcasters lies a phalanx of media aligned with the state, many of which are propped up with public subsidies, ensuring that state narratives dominate the discourse.
This trend reaches its most aggressive form in Brussels, where free speech on decentralized platforms, such as X or Telegram, is targeted through the Digital Services Act (DSA). The zeal with which the EU seeks to crush dissenting media reveals that the battle for civil liberties may ultimately be fought in the realm of speech.
The Bureaucracy Beneath the Crown
This elite also has its administrative backbone. Roughly 5.4 million work in Germany’s public sector—two million of them as lifetime civil servants. Just ten years ago, the number was 4.7 million, marking a 15% increase. Despite technological efficiencies, bureaucracy has grown out of control, driven by political will rather than administrative necessity.
This metastasizing bureaucracy is more than a power base; it is the engine of a new socialism—one that asserts a level of authority not seen since reunification. The government’s budget reflects this shift, as credit-funded stimulus is deployed to mask a deep structural crisis. These debt-financed outlays supercharge state interventionism and will likely lead to fiscal catastrophe.
Such funding is a boon to regulators and agencies, who use it to justify their growing influence. Public—sector entities increasingly behave like self-perpetuating corporations, competing for budget increases and morphing into quasi-autonomous entities within the state.
Former SPD leader and labor minister Andrea Nahles, now head of the bloated Federal Employment Agency—with its 100,000 staff—epitomizes the cushy second careers awaiting loyal party functionaries.
The Climate Economy and War Profiteering
This is just one example from Germany’s hypertrophied bureaucracy. An even more grotesque iteration exists in the “climate economy.” In a desperate bid to keep this artificial sector afloat, thousands of EU officials oversee its massive subsidy machine. Alongside the arms industry, it forms a second economic pillar for the state aristocracy.
Bigger green budgets mean more corporate leaders become addicted to subsidies. The result? A tacit pact: the state buys business silence in exchange for handouts. Criticism of the failed green transition is often met with resistance. With little to no oversight and media immunity, the state aristocracy continues to slip further into feudalism.
The European Commission’s next seven-year budget (2028–2034) plans for €750 billion in transfers—fuel for expanding bureaucracy, new appointments, and ample opportunities for corruption.
The Silence of the Subsidy Barons
This is the structural flaw of populist democracies: political elites are selected exclusively through internal party channels and rarely earn credentials in the private sector. Term limits, pension caps, and salary ties to previous private income might check this perverse dynamic, but such reforms are a fantasy.
This state aristocracy operates with near-total immunity. And so, as Germany’s crisis deepens, we’ll continue receiving sermons from the likes of Merz and Steinmeier—elites who know full well that their fragile authority ultimately rests on the very economic class they so brazenly disparage.
It’s interesting to see a whore chasing crack addict become the poster child for the Democrats.
Bullet Points:
** Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna will attempt to force a House vote on a congressional stock trading ban in September, creating a new headache for Speaker Mike Johnson when members return to Washington from their summer recess. The Florida lawmaker said Tuesday she plans to file a discharge petition at that time seeking a floor vote on legislation written by Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) that would end members’ ability to trade individual securities.
** Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force Commander Esmail Ghaani held several meetings with Iranian-backed Iraqi Shia actors over the past several weeks to discuss efforts that would preserve and strengthen members of Iran’s Axis of Resistance in Iraq. Iran is likely seeking to protect the strength of its Iraqi partners in the Axis of Resistance in the wake of two years of conflict, which has severely weakened Iran and several other members of the Axis.
** Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani claimed that the US presence in Iraq incentivizes Iranian-backed Iraqi militias to maintain their arms, which ignores the reality that some Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have repeatedly refused to surrender their arms until the return of the hidden Imam. The United States and Iraq agreed in September 2024 that hundreds of US-led international coalition forces would withdraw from Iraq by September 2025 and that remaining forces would withdraw by the end of 2026. Iranian-backed Iraqi militias would very likely remain armed whether or not US forces remain in Iraq, however. Iranian-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah Spokesperson Abu Ali al Askari stated on July 5 that the weapons of the “Iraqi resistance” will only be handed over to the “Imam Mahdi,” not following the withdrawal of US forces.[60] Imam Mahdi is the twelfth and final Imam in Shia Islam, who, according to Twelver Shia, is currently in hiding and will emerge in the future.
Sudani also signaled that he is open to further security and economic cooperation with the United States during the July 29 interview. He stated that the United States and Iraq will meet to “arrange the bilateral security relationship” by the end of 2025. Sudani‘s stated aim to maintain a security relationship with the United States contradicts Iranian-backed Shia actors‘ demands to end all security cooperation with the United States. Sudani added that he aims to secure US investment in the oil, gas, and artificial intelligence sectors. This interview follows the Iraqi government signing contracts with two US energy companies on July 22.
** “Kidon” ( onי on) in Hebrew means “bayonet” or “dardo”. In the context of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, “Kidon” refers to a secret unit of special elimination operations, sometimes referred to as “the murderers”. This unit is known for carrying out elimination missions and covert operations outside of Israel. Kidon recruits receive two-year intensive training at secret facilities near Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv.
** Don’t forget to bring ICE to the party next door.
** Baseball update – for those of you who are following me down the MLB rabbit hole. I recall reading that major league baseball organizations take a close look at young boys in the Dominican Republic (where there are two minor league organizations/farm team leagues). They can be signed as early as 15 years there. In the US, the rules governing university scholarship commitments and the MLB draft are set in stone. There are baseball union agreements that cover the entire US and Canada. I have a 16-year-old grandson who plays in tournaments nationwide (and in Panama) to showcase his abilities, and he may follow two of his cousins to the MLB draft. As I reported, one cousin was picked up in the first round last month. I have another grandson who plays in the Temecula/Murietta, CA area, who turns eight this month. He’s a good little player, and I learned last week that he is being tracked. Yes, the leagues have been tracking them for a decade before they might be drafted for their potential. Unlike the NFL draft, the MLB draft sends them directly into the minor leagues, where they play professionally for up to six years before being brought up to the majors. Some never make it to the Big Game. I was never aware that they came under scrutiny at such a young age.
Universities are free to engage with high school juniors for the purpose of awarding scholarships on August 1. Yes, that’s today. It will be interesting to see which universities court my grandson (currently 4.0 GPA overall as a STEM concentration) and what they offer. Tier 1 universities can offer both academic and sports scholarships simultaneously. At the moment, he favors Cal Baptist University ($70,000 per year to attend), but the only way he’ll attend there is with a significant scholarship. I’d like to see him go Navy or Air Force but that’s up to the service academies and him. As an interesting anecdote, one of his friends (a baseball catcher) was courted by USAF. He asked the recruiter, a pilot, how many catchers the Air Force had. The pilot said, “Four, but two dropped out of the Academy because they were ‘pussies.'” That tickled me somehow.
** Approximately 66% of Black children in the United States are raised by single mothers, according to The Sacramento Observer, compared to 24% of white children. This significant disparity highlights the prevalence of single-parent households within the Black community.
** Barack Hussein Obama Presidential Library – update.
** Landing with MRSBRM.
Who’s the Predator?
In Russia
Kremlin officials decisively rejected US President Donald Trump’s new deadline for Russia to negotiate an end to its war against Ukraine and reiterated Moscow’s interest in continuing the war.
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev claimed on his English-language X (formerly Twitter) account that Trump cannot dictate the timing of peace negotiations and that negotiations will end when Russia has achieved all of its war objectives — likely referring to Russia’s original war aims, including regime change in Ukraine, changes to NATO’s open-door policy, and the reduction of Ukraine’s military such that it cannot defend itself.
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov similarly claimed that Russia will continue its war against Ukraine to protect Russia’s interests, despite Trump’s July 28 announcement of the new 10- or 12-day deadline. Peskov claimed that there is currently a slowdown in the process to normalize Russian-American relations, that the Kremlin remains interested in normalization, and that progress will require “impulses” from both sides. Peskov claimed that the current state of Russian-American relations is hindering the process of negotiating an extension of the New START Treaty. The Kremlin previously dangled the prospect of incentives that were unrelated to the war in Ukraine, such as bilateral arms control talks and economic projects, to extract concessions from the United States about the war in Ukraine. Peskov’s statements about the deterioration of Russian-American relations and New START are likely part of efforts to persuade Trump to reconsider his deadline in the interest of normalizing bilateral relations and pursuing increased cooperation. The Kremlin is uninterested in negotiations to end the war and is instead trying to prolong the war in Ukraine to make additional gains on the battlefield.
Identify the Aircraft
1
2
13 built – two graphics
3
Identify the Armor
4
End
Identify the Aircraft:
1. Supermarine Attacker
2. Supermarine Spiteful
3. Antonov An-32 Cline
Identify the Armor:
4. Neubaufahrzeug
WOW, Surly – fast.
He works on Hermione‘s twisty time warp pendant.
It works…
Trump speaks in free flow thought , no governor control . Just a stream of shit from brain to mouth . I’m laughing , not knocking . I grew up in Texas where bullshitting is an art form and held in high esteem. He is a New York version , up there I think they call it , “bustin a guy’s balls” when you give a public redress.
As often repeated , as recently as this week by Rubio , “….if Trump had been President , Russia’s SMO (or full scale invasion if you prefer) would never have happened , I’d like to know how he would’ve prevented it . Trump also said Ukraine would likely be forced to give up some land in any peace deal .
NATO and the E.U. really lean on Uncle Sugar . I was talking to a very good friend last night , over a couple of bourbons . And somewhere in the conversation I said , “it would be like me having Mike Tyson as a good friend , and going into a bar with him and starting shit with two bikers and stepping back and saying , Mike can you take care of this shit ? ” . Right or wrong that is how I see NATO . Entire careers have been built and exist today that need to keep alive the idea of a “Cold War” with Russia . I thought the E.U. came about as a trade agreement to ease trade between European countries , it sure has become much much more . The E.U. , some members , have said the Russian Federation wants to takeover Europe …why would they?….that would be like taking in your worthless, broke brother in law , and his 25 adopted rescue children with special needs. I don’t see it . If you said Russia would welcome any former soviet state , that expressed the desire to join the Russian Federation and keep a level of sovereignty , I would agree to that statement .
And as the U.S. taxpayers money pours into Ukraine , going who knows where , to whom and for what , is there a chance at the end of this that I might get a nice little dacha , you know white with blue trim , about 6 acres (great soil !) a couple of sheds , and of course a separate summer kitchen ? Visa free of course , stay as long as I like , come and go as I like , and a subsidy from the Ukrainan Government with a guarantee of non conscription , I’m in my early 60’s , that is prime fighting age evidently .
“The E.U. , some members , have said the Russian Federation wants to takeover Europe …why would they?….that would be like taking in your worthless, broke brother in law , and his 25 adopted rescue children with special needs.”
*Now that’s the truth about Russia and the EU. I was working in and out of Europe during the 2005-15 time frame and all the older men I spoke with were fed up with the EU business. When the mass invasion started, the jihadis settled in Germany were getting more cash and privileges than Germans who worked their entire lives in Germany. The Germans were steamed but weren’t ready to do anything. That was a change from the 80s when I would overhear WW II vets talking at the Stammtisch as to how they would shoot Communists or anyone else who came into Germany in an unauthorized manner. Yes, they still had their K98s.
*The talk about Russia taking over Europe is just to get people riled up. Russia doesn’t have the equipment to fight a big war and the EU doesn’t have anything to back up their boasts. Europe is no longer a beautiful place to visit or work. When in Leipzig, as the evening rolled in, the jihadis would congregate near the subway entrance and at the Bahnhof station looking for trouble. Belgium was the same way. It’s pretty clear that Russia wants the Ukraine out of NATO as was promised decades ago. At any rate, that whole mess is a giant tar baby that we need to stay clear of.
So, I guess if Tyson had to take care of business with the two bikers in a bar, afterward the bikers would have had difficulty wearing sunglasses?
Cletus , yes , particularly if Mike bit off their ears . Tinted oakley motocross goggles would be their best option in that event , they are made for riding bikes anyway , and the oakleys have a plastic tear off films that you can pull off one at a time as they get full of bugs or dirt etc.
Boats, that question popped into my head due to a recent conversation with an old friend. He had been to the Dr. for a diagnosis and consultation of what could be done for what appeared to be a skin cancer on his ear. As they were winding up the what could be done, the Dr. told him “don’t worry about not being able to wear your glasses, ’cause I’ll leave enough ear to support your eye glass Temple and Temple Tips”. This friend and I are pretty hard boiled, so we both had a chuckle as we discussed the other opportunities for holding his eye glasses in place.
>U.S. taxpayers money pours into Ukraine , going who knows where , to whom and for what
>> that whole mess is a giant tar baby that we need to stay clear of
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Shame on you both. There are excellent reasons for the US to spend its prestige, treasure, and lives on Ukraine. The only higher priority is Our Greatest Ally. (The US probably comes in third on the list of priorities. But it might be lower. I dunno, I don’t get invited to those policy meetings.) Here are but a few of the reasons:
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1. Ukraine is the breadbasket [a] of not just the Slavic countries, but an astonishing portion of the Middle East and Africa as well. Who controls Ukraine will of course be able to profit from food (grain, etc) sales, but that is small brain, in-the-box thinking. THIS is the real key: if you control food production then you largely control famine, or its cousin, shortages. Food shortages are a massive driver of “migration”. So if you want to flood Europe with swarthy (or darker), high time preference (i.e. shitty impulse control) and low IQ persons, many of whom are of a religion wholly incompatible with the West, then the thing to do is you make it difficult to obtain staple food items in the native shitholes. The people may be dim and impulsive, but not too dim to know that Western Europe is wealthy and has a suicidal [b] policy of allowing invaders, er economic migrants into their heimat, so off to Europe they go.
[a] literally breadbasket. The blue-over-yellow flag represents the blue sky over golden fields of wheat.
[b] “suicide” like a guy found with a dozen stab wounds in his back plus his throat slit ear-to-ear. Suicide.
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1a. This is (probably) much lower priority, but if you control food production you may be able to spike, er fortify, the raw materials with substances you want everyone to ingest. I have no idea what would survive processing and cooking, but recall that Bill Gates (busily repairing the health of the world) famously said that “Putting vaccines in food overcomes vaccine hesitancy.” Someone smarter than me replied, “Just like putting roofies in a girl’s drink overcomes sex hesitancy.”
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2. I’m ranking this second, but it may be first psychologically. NEVER underestimate the power of hatred, nor the power of narcissistic personality disorder. And (as Obama liked to condescend) Make No Mistake, the people most behind this are often personally, and definitely culturally, narcissistic. Anyone who doesn’t act as if they were put on earth to serve you is a personal affront to the narcissist. (“Put on earth to serve you”, Creepy, innit? What kind of horrible person would seriously think that about other human beings?) Screwing with Ukraine is the means to screw with Russia. Because of historic (both actual and claimed) mistreatment, there can never be enough punishment for Russia. And doubly so, because despite the 50+ million murdered by Bolshevik policies, the Rodina nevertheless got out (mostly, eventually) from under the thumb of the creators of Bolshevism. Well, their heirs and their cousins are out for revenge. The only thing better than a dead Slav is a maimed-for-life, bitter, resentful, miserable Slav too crippled and too alcoholic to work. So the RUS-UKR war is A Good Thing. The longer it goes on, the bloodier it is, the better it is for the Kagans (or Kaganovichs, as in architect of the Holodomor, Lazar Kaganovich) and the Nulands.
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3. Direct profit through theft of aid, duh. Same with diversion of arms and armaments; sure there’s the monetary profit, but also the means to provide materiel aid for whatever anti-Western (and usually anti-Israel as well, by the way) groups that are murdering people and causing trouble in various shitholes around the world, also duh. Sometimes it IS just simple and straightforward.
3a. Human trafficking opportunities are through the roof. How many of the circa 44 million (ante bellum) Ukrainians have fled the motherland? Something north of 5 million, with an astonishing 1.5 million in Poland alone, as I last read. A few hundred thousand gone missing is nothing. And these are white, often blond, blue-eyed females and children. FAR more valuable than those grubby Haitian or Congolese orphans we’ve had to make do with for decades now.
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Anyway, I hope I’ve convinced you (y’all) why it is critical for the US to back Zelenskyy without hesitation, without mental reservation. If you don’t, how will the Finks and the Gateses control the Ukraine? How will the Kagans get their revenge? Why do you hate the poor innocent Finks and Gateses and Kagans so much? You need to Do Better. Remember: All they want is To Help, all they want is Justice.
Sir , out of respect for L.L. , I have no reply for you .
This is all I got Mike… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkFK6MTgq_M
Congressional Insider Trading: WHAT?! Mon dieu. 🫣. According to The Nan this doesn’t happen. In fact, it was her significant other, PP Hammertyme, who was the expert, not her. This is known as self plausible deniability…only works for The Spehshall People.
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So move along folks, nothing to see here….but!…don’t forget to verify that $28 donation to charity – with receipts – after getting a piddly return on your company stock or else the IRS Armed Agent SWAT squad will show up with a FTC warrant in hand to search your underwear drawer for hidden assets…at 3am. But don’t question them about Cali’s “FireAid” taking in $100M in donations and yet not one resident received a nickel…but…but…’blind eye’…because you are not part of the “Let them eat crow” class.
(Sidebar: Trump is working to reduce the size of the IRS as a potential precursor to eliminating the criminal outfit altogether, while The Husk was adding 87,000 armed agents. A significant contrast in ‘We betters demand big govt versus Get out of American’s way govt.’)
“After me, the flood.”
It’s interesting to note:
In the biblical narrative, the flood was prophesied (or its coming indicated) in connection with the patriarch Methuselah.
Methuselah’s name itself is thought to carry a prophetic meaning, potentially being translated as “His death shall send” or “death and sent”. According to this interpretation, Methuselah’s death would signal the beginning of the Great Flood.
Biblical accounts indicate that Methuselah died in the very same year that the flood occurred, though not necessarily as a result of the flood waters. This aligns with the understanding that his long life represented God’s extended patience with humanity before sending judgment upon the earth.
It’s also important to note that Enoch, Methuselah’s father, is said to have received a revelation about the flood before Methuselah’s birth and incorporated that prophecy into his son’s name. This suggests a deeper connection between Methuselah’s life and the impending flood.
Nice overview Ed…did not realize that. Now, what ‘revelations’ do we have in the current era as prophesied? As we humans are a curious lot – which is often a double-edged sword, and all manner of ‘pastors’ work hard on this “end of times’ speculation, we know “He will not reveal when”.
Jesus said in the end they’ll act like was acted in the days of Noah.
👍
Your summary on what’s going on in Germany surprised me several times. I mean, the idea that big governments are self-perpetuating and incredibly corrupt is hardly new, but the shocking and inescapable conclusion in there is that the people who lived under communism are putting up with it taking over again. Having grown up with the Cuban migration into Miami, I’ve never seen anybody more opposed to communism than the people who escaped it. I don’t know what percentage of the population are survivors but the way that Europe is sliding downhill is alarming to me.
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You know that joke about “when they said ‘how are you preparing for the fall’ I didn’t know whether they meant the season or the collapse of civilization” that’s going around? In this case, which comes first, the collapse of Europe into rubble or Crusades 2.0 “Christians vs Muslims”?
My late father, a Colorado cowboy and CBI veteran would tell you, “The only thing an Asian understands is a boot on his neck”. I might not completely agree but understand his point, BTDT. What we (collectively) in the West fail to understand adherents to Islam do not share our values and are certain only they are right. Meaning no disrespect to either group, consider the dynamics of a Jehovah Witness and a LDS Missionary discussing theology. Fortunately, neither believes in, convert or die. OK, WSF, what is the answer? Damned if I know. Stay armed and vigilant.
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Germany
The one thing I learned from my 60 year ago tour there, was their devotion to, “All is in order”, Alles ist in Ordnung. Easy people to be around until things were out of order then they were bat shit crazy. Is Germany edging towards disorder?
“Alles ist in ordnung” thats very true and thats how we grew up in our household and sadly it’s never really left my mindset.
While taking care of a property tax protest, I noticed how many people work at the appraisal office, thought of how their wages are only possible by armed theft, and wondered if they ever thought of how their life is only possible by outright theft. I think not. They’re paid minions that make every attempt to steal a little more with weighted appraisals. Their arrogance is bestowed by their arrogant masters, and as time advances, the frustration of those they fleece turns to anger.
I well remember dealing with them. They said my tax increase was based on comparable homes in the area. After a lot of argument they told me which property was the comparable. When I pointed out the comparable was a two story on a 1/3 acre lot and mine was a one story on a postage sized lot, they reluctantly changed the appraisal. They were open in their irritation with having to deal with me face to face.
This ‘we rent from the city/county/state” theft needs to go away. Mike over at Outdoor with the Morgan’s (Butler, PA area) was reviewing the latest official “rain tax” Water Drainage Committee now “needed” because they allowed farmland to be overdeveloped now they have a runoff problem (roofs, asphalt etc). The new tax is despite these are already paid through PropTaxes. His family heen on that stretch of rural road for generations, services used to be covered by 13 properties and now hvee hundreds of homes in subdivisons paying into those same services…yet the Township believes they need more taxes. His – obvious to anyone NOT a Lefty or Democrat – question: Where is all the ‘over and above those 13 property’ collected PropTax money going? Millions just gone.
The County banks on people simply accepting their proptax bill, so when you protest using logic, facts, data, and fairness they almost always give in. Ours jumped 50% in one 18 month period because of neighboring sale. Told them not happening as they were using valuations at the height of the weird Covid – get outta town city-dwellers – market and not current levels (they lied). I then included the Realtor Association’s actual data which had the market at 2015 levels, then made a fair valuation offer (as galling as it was). The “Assessor” (aka Head of the Property Mafia) agreed, folded immediately. This grift is run by a bizarre algorithm only they know about. Needs to go away…and if more people protested their takings maybe we could eliminate it (unless you are a Fort Collins Lib who loves giving away their hard-earned cash into the gov’t nebula).
Along about 1984 or so, the city of Austin had approved more home building permits in one area than they had treatment plants to process the sewage derived therefrom. Oooopsie! So, they hired a fleet of oil field vacuum trucks to haul the excess product 20 miles or so north to Georgetown where there was excess capacity. I’m not remembering exactly how long that went on, but somewhere between six months and a year IIRC.
Government bureaucrats HATE dealing with members of the great unwashed personally. When confronted with something unreasonable, I put on an expensive suit, a starched white shirt, and spit-shined shoes, and appear before them. The last time that happened there was a statute of limitations they were aware of that vacated a tax demand they made on me. I demanded a hearing before a magistrate, demanded my day in court, demanded – demanded – demanded in the most polite way possible. Twenty-one years working for the Orange County (CA) District Attorney’s office behind me. They quietly dropped the matter and left me alone.
“While taking care of a property tax protest, ”
Tomorrow, I’m interviewing the proponent of a plebiscite in Michigan to eliminate property tax in Michigan. AxMiTax.org
Excellent Ed.
I forwarded your report to a friend in Germany.
Here are his thoughts….
These articles just touch the surface of the problems Germany is running into. I could go into details but it would take hours to type up. Merz and his SPD coalition government is a catastrophe for Germany!! If the United States ever ventures out of NATO, a civil war will break out in Germany followed by a fully destabilized Europe that will once again go to war against itself. I believe that Germany is not far away from seeing its very hated and incapable politicians being dragged through the streets. In the article they didn’t even really touch on the issues brought about by the mass migration by Muslim foreigners into Germany, the added cost to the welfare state and the exodus of the German industry out of the country! Germany is committing collective suicide!
Dragged through the streets. I like the sound of that. It needs to happen more often.
Germany is hosed, and they’re doing it to themselves… Not our problem. Re the kids/sports, yes, they are now tracking kids in junior high and earlier if they show ‘specific’ capabilities. My grandson got a full ride to a college in AZ for basketball, ended up breaking a wrist, was missed by the ‘team’ doc, and he’s now out of B/ball completely, and without a degree. It’s a body mill, just like a lot of other things… sigh
It’s definitely a body mill/meat factory, but it’s something that can work for you if you’re able to manipulate the system to your advantage. Universities are now able to pay (in cash and tuition) BASEBALL players up to $2 million a year, which is insane. It used just to be football and basketball. My grandson, a high school junior (this year) is on the roster of the #1 ranked nationally travel ball team. His batting average in national competitions is .460. I don’t know what awaits him but hopefully he can parlay the scholarship into a career that gets him gainfully employed.
When you look at the supposed words of Marie Antoinette, they potential weren’t the words of an airhead. Due to Icelandic volcanoes destroying the French wheat crops for several years, the government’s response in Paris was to set price controls on how much the farmers could charge for wheat meant for bread and how much the bakers could charge for bread flour, which is ground to a certain fineness and sometimes differentiates from cake flour in gluten content (aware readers probably can see where this is going…) This, of course, resulted in shortages of bread flour because the farmers wouldn’t sell their bread wheat at a because the government wanted their full cut and more because the government wanted to subsidize bread for the masses in Paris. (Gee, sound familiar?)
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The sticking point, of course, was there was no price control on cake flour, whether just bread wheat ground to cake fineness or actual cake wheat. So farmers sold their wheat to mills to make cake flour and sell to bakers to… make cake.
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Thus, well, “Let them eat cake.” Which was a logical but distanced statement by someone severely distanced from the peasant rabble. Makes more sense if you translate the statement as “Let them use cake flour,” which would work fine but cost far more and see the teeming masses of welfare class peasants in Paris (and all the government officials who were making ‘bread’ off of the corrupt system and off the taxes of the corrupt system.
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Ah, Marie, you got shafted by history almost as bad as Richard III, who most people only know about due to the propaganda put out by Willie Shakespeare, who wrote said propaganda because he wasn’t stupid and didn’t want to get killed by the arsehole Tudors, who had no other claim to England than “We killed Richard, so we keep what we kill.”
Heavy is the head that wears the crown…
And how lefties love to twist the words of non-lefties.
They’re very much like lawyers.
As I read about things going on today it strikes me that what these places/people need is someone like Cromwell except that didn’t work out all that well so maybe something like a really selective plague, but they tried that already and we’re on to them and that scam so it seems the next final thing is a great murdering war to distract all the plebs from the incredible looting that has been going on by their betters and honestly I can’t think of a better place for it to start than Germany, the land of my birth which was in itself just an accident of luck and the fact that the United States had two Army Corps there at that time to keep the Germans down and the Russians out. They don’t know it but I suspect that they all be better off if the Russians were stupid enough to try to take over Europe. Why they seem to think anybody would want it is a mystery to me but then the people who have been looting it for generations have made a lot of money and there may be no reason the Rorosovs and Romanovs cannot do the same.
turn to Jesus
Juan
Amen!