Miscellaneous News Thread

[scotchandcigar]

I may be skirting the rules here, let me know if that's the case Hectic, but I love presidential election season and it really starts tonight with the caucus. It's fun to pick someone and root for them.

Not surprisingly, I feel the complete opposite. The non-stop bombardment of the same fucking ads over and over is like the week before an election, but it's only January. I will probably blow my own head off by March.

This is the downside to our conventional TV viewing routine, where we primarily watch commercial broadcast networks (though they come to us via streaming).

I also loathe everything that's going on politically in this country, but I'm not going to talk about that.

 

[JHDK]

I will probably blow my own head off by March.

Hahah. I enjoy the process but I can also understand that mentality.

 

[HecticArt]

Just don't start talking about candidates or sides.

I'm afraid the next 10 months are going to be worse than usual.
It's going to suck, so we're going to have to be more strict than before.

Let's keep the DRC a safe place to get away from all of the political bullshit.

 

[sadchild]

The non-stop bombardment of the same fucking ads over and over

I've probably blocked 100+ phone numbers from texting me with political spam. 80% of them are one candidate. The sooner she drops out, the sooner I can stop yelling at my phone.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

I've probably blocked 100+ phone numbers from texting me with political spam. 80% of them are one candidate. The sooner she drops out, the sooner I can stop yelling at my phone.

Most of those numbers are spoofed and numbers of just ordinary joes. I once got a text from someone demanding I stopped calling them with spams. Sometimes they just use the last number they called on their call display.

 

[HecticArt]

I almost answered a call today. (A couple of projects just started construction. There's usually a bunch of calls from contractors I don't have in my contacts yet.)
At the last second I decided not to. Turns out it was bogus.

 

[Channel98]

Single-use plastic bags are banned in California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawai'i, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington and in hundreds of individual cities. Markets, drugstores and retailers happily charge their customers between five and 20 cents each for paper bags and for thicker, reusable plastic bags. They will also happily sell you – for as much as $2.95 – reusable bags made of canvas or fabric. Government officials insist the plastic bag bans are all about protecting the environment. In truth, the bans are all about forcing the stores to charge for bags which used to be free. Thus the stores make millions of extra dollars and have to pay taxes on that income – and that is what the plastic bag bans are all about: bringing in more tax revenue for states, counties and cities.

Aldi eliminates plastic shopping bags in all 2,300 US grocery stores

Aldi has decided to discontinue the sale of plastic shopping bags at all of its more than 2,300 grocery stores across the United States.

www.usatoday.com

 

[sadchild]

The two regular grocery stores I go to (Shaws & Hannaford) still give free plastic bags. The co-op I go to charges me for paper bags if I forget to bring in my reusables.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

I have some reusable bags which i keep in the trunk. I take my groceries out in the cart loose. I am sure it pisses off the store but that is kind of their problem for not offering any free bags (all they sell is the reusable ones for sale).

 

[scotchandcigar]

They will also happily sell you – for as much as $2.95 – reusable bags made of canvas or fabric. In truth, the bans are all about forcing the stores to charge for bags which used to be free. Thus the stores make millions of extra dollars and have to pay taxes on that income – and that is what the plastic bag bans are all about: bringing in more tax revenue for states, counties and cities.

That might be the most cynical point of view I've ever seen. Those super-thin plastic bags can't be recycled, and just gum up the process. Plus they end up flying around all over the place. I guess environmentalism is a big government conspiracy theory?

Around here, reusable bags are $1. And at our local (Maine) supermarket, we don't use them, because we like getting paper bags to line our recycle bin in the kitchen. But even if there was merit to your very dark theory, it wouldn't work here. People can go right over the line into NH and get all the plastic bags they want. There's a certain percent of people who don't shop in Maine, because they want the shitty plastic bags (as a side-note, we always do our "big" food shopping in NH; not only does that supermarket have lower prices and less tax, but we use the plastic bags for scooping cat litter). So the plastic bag ban on the border towns in Maine is reducing patronage and therefore revenue. Conspiracy theory busted.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

That might be the most cynical point of view I've ever seen. Those super-thin plastic bags can't be recycled, and just gum up the process. Plus they end up flying around all over the place. I guess environmentalism is a big government conspiracy theory?

Around here, reusable bags are $1. And at our local (Maine) supermarket, we don't use them, because we like getting paper bags to line our recycle bin in the kitchen. But even if there was merit to your very dark theory, it wouldn't work here. People can go right over the line into NH and get all the plastic bags they want. There's a certain percent of people who don't shop in Maine, because they want the shitty plastic bags (as a side-note, we always do our "big" food shopping in NH; not only does that supermarket have lower prices and less tax, but we use the plastic bags for scooping cat litter). So the plastic bag ban on the border towns in Maine is reducing patronage and therefore revenue. Conspiracy theory busted.

I never recycled those bags. I always used them for other stuff like trash or taking something to a friend or something. Now I have to buy my trash bags. I refuse to buy paper bags. Those are completely environmentally safe so there is no reason for a charge for them. The charge was added to save the environment or so they said. The fact they are charging for paper bags just means it is there for profit.

 

[scotchandcigar]

My local supermarket charges a nickel for a heavy-duty paper bag. I don't know the exact figures, but you can supply many, many plastic bags for the cost of one of the paper bags. If you don't want to believe that, OK. If you also don't want to believe the money is used to subsidize recycling process costs, OK. But what is certainly true, is that the nickel is charged as an incentive to use the reusable bags instead. Because that's really the goal.

It's the same concept as bottle deposits, which have been around for decades, but nobody accuses that of being a scam.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

A profit making opportunity is not always a scam.

 

[Channel98]

No, Mister scotch, bottle deposits – or, as they are known here, CRV fees ("California redemption value") – are not a scam because when we take our cans and bottles to a recycler, we get back the money that we paid for the fees. What I hate about those fees here in California, though, is that we pay a tax on top of a tax. For example, the CRV on a can of soda is five cents. When we buy a 12-pack, we pay an extra 60 cents. That amount is added to the purchase price and sales tax is charged on the total – in effect, a tax on a tax. How is that legal?

 

[scotchandcigar]

in effect, a tax on a tax. How is that legal?

I'd say that just about 100% of my purchases are made with money that's already been taxed (with the exception of healthcare items). Is it not?

 

[Channel98]

Mister scotch, are you implying that you don't appreciate waking up to an alarm clock that you paid sales tax on, in a bed that you paid sales tax on, in a house that you pay property taxes on every year, then putting on clothes that you paid sales tax on and getting in a car that you paid sales tax on and which burns gasoline that you pay taxes on and going to work at a job for a salary that you pay taxes on?

 

[scotchandcigar]

Mister scotch, are you implying that you don't appreciate waking up to an alarm clock that you paid sales tax on, in a bed that you paid sales tax on, in a house that you pay property taxes on every year, then putting on clothes that you paid sales tax on and getting in a car that you paid sales tax on and which burns gasoline that you pay taxes on and going to work at a job for a salary that you pay taxes on?

I see your point, but I don't use an alarm clock (unless I'm getting up at 3 am to catch a flight). And having lived in NH for 30 years (and now living on the NH border), we own many items that we paid no sales tax on. But I have no problem paying the taxes we have to pay, and I don't understand those who do have a problem with it. In fact, I can confidently say that those who claim they shouldn't have to pay taxes on anything are just ignorant.

 

[Channel98]

When I was born, the sales tax in Glendale was 4%. Our stupid, gullible voters continue to vote for tax hikes, believing the politicians who say "It's for the children!" "It's for better roads!" "It's for better schools!"– and the extra revenue is almost always wasted. Our sales tax is now an outrageous 10.25%!

 

[scotchandcigar]

When I was born, the sales tax in Glendale was 4%. Our stupid, gullible voters continue to vote for tax hikes, believing the politicians who say "It's for the children!" "It's for better roads!" "It's for better schools!"– and the extra revenue is almost always wasted. Our sales tax is now an outrageous 10.25%!

Wow, that's pretty ridiculous, considering that it's a percentage of the cost of things; so even if it stayed the same, the revenue would increase with prices. Also, it's a big disincentive to buy things there, although maybe with the demographics, it doesn't matter. Where we live, I can be in 3 different states within 20 minutes. So the competition compels them to keep it low.

 

[Listener]

Oregon does not have a sales tax but their income tax and property tax are high. A sales tax proposal has been on the ballot several times and voters always reject it.