ranDOMscripts

If "protecting the public" was truly the goal, why not make taxi driving as simple as getting a commercial endorsement on your license? Driving 50 people in a public bus only requires X hours in a classroom and an extra exam (or two, depending). Interestingly, the medallions were affixed the the vehicle (thus allowing anybody to use it), the total number of medallions were artificially limited and the choice parts of the city were off limits to competition. Does that really protect the public or does it just protect those who own the medallions?

This article is remiss in not mentioning how Jarvis et al. also got commercial property included in Prop 13. With many commercial properties held in trusts and corporations, the ownership never "changes" and generations of beneficiaries pay a pittance in taxes on incredibly valuable real estate. San Francisco, in particular, strikes me as a city awash in properties that haven't changed hands in generations because even a crappy old warehouse practically mints income.

Thankfully, Californians have the opportunity to correct this giveaway with a vote for a split-roll in 2020[0].

[0]https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Change-in-Calif...

re the rain tax: if that means the mall owner has to open up some of those acres of asphalt to reduce stormwater runoff or landlords end up jackhammering the cement slabs covering the front and backyards (because spraying herbicide a couple times a year is way cheaper/easier than regular gardening service) then I fail to see the problem. Your giant slabs of cementitious landscaping are contributing to my heat island effect so the tax is a small reminder to rip the unnecessary bits out and plant a couple trees instead.

You mean Eddie Lampert's plan to pillage all of the valuable assets, pile on company debt to buy the shares he owned, sue suppliers to keep providing inventory(!) and enrich himself at the expense of the employees and other stakeholders worked exactly as planned?[0]

...And in other news, water is wet.

[0]https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/business/the-incredible-s...

Isn't formaldehyde used in basically every composite wood product (plywood, MDF, particleboard, etc)? Confined spaces with lots of new composite wood (see RV's, boats, trailers, temporary classrooms) always stink for quite some time until the offgassing subsides.

And they teach classes in it (and just about every other industrial art), too! It's an amazing place.

Please share with us what countries you think it's safe to be in when you are the #1 target of the US government. El Chapo's hundreds of millions/billions? in payoffs couldn't protect him so you must have some really amazing places in mind.

What the title of article should be: "The Myth of the Freelance Wealthy Welder in Nowheresville, Anystate USA".

Welding, and trades in general, pay big money in the big cities along the coasts. I bet the union welders putting up sky scrapers and fixing public works are making six figures, minimum.

I remember looking up and seeing a fighter jet circle the burning north tower for what I thought was a reconnaissance mission but then watching it take off across the Hudson and commenting to my colleagues that it must be on the hunt for another plane. It's crazy to think they were on a kamikaze mission.