What are your pet peeve's?

[Redoverfarm]

I can't keep from thinking there are just some things that get under my skin.  I am not sure whether they are cultural or age defining.  It seems they come into play alot more when dealing with the younger generation rather than my peer's. Could it be that values have changed or lack of.  Is it the times we live in now or should I have been born 20-30 years ago?

Here are a couple of mine.

Littering 
punctual
manners
Consideration for others
Responsibilities for one's actions

Is it me or do others feel the same way.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Mine are:
busybody neighbors who think your one-eyed dog is abused (this tops the list right now.)
People who don't know how to count change, and those who, when  you count their change back to them correctly, freak out because they think you're doing some sort of weird accounting and trying to short-change them.
People who use foul language in front of kids (an old man used the F-word in front of my two preschoolers the other day... I could have decked him.)
Rudeness
prescriptive advice from people who don't know what they're talking about
teasing that is intentionally mean-spirited (never really experienced it until moving here, and I got together in a play group with a bunch of moms I didn't know, and the hostess introduced me as the "loser" who was teaching her two and three year old to read, and then spent the next ten or twenty minutes ragging on me about it.  It was really uncomfortable because I  didn't know any of these other women, and wasn't quite sure how to take it.  We were always raised to think that if you can't  say something nice, keep your trap shut... of course, there's a big difference between that and good-natured teasing.)

[MountainDon]

People who DWI, and the faulty system that allows them to become repeat offenders, big problem in NM. *
This is a subset of...

... people who do NOT take Personal Responsibility for their actions. This has a whole set of subsections. I especially get upset when they expect to be bailed out of their self inflicted problem(s) by others; relatives, friends, government...

Everything else seems minor in context. OMMV

* After the first time the penalties should be severe; after that draconian, IMHO.

[Redoverfarm]

We were always raised to think that if you can't  say something nice, keep your trap shut... of course, there's a big difference between that and good-natured teasing.)

Sort of the "thumper" idea huh from Bambi. "Daddy said if you can't say something nice then don't say anything at all

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

  Something like that.


Don, I'm with you on the DWI and DUI thing, too... I think the punishment should be swift and severe the first time, whether or not anyone was killed.  But then the same goes for sex offenders, too... only even more severe.... and I guess I could go on down the list of criminals and politicians from there.

DH had to do some sort of psych/personality assessment for one of the companies that he applied for recently and it had 50 sentence starts that he had to finish... he had me check over them for grammar and spelling, and I about died laughing when I got to the sentence that began "What bothers me the most is..." and he'd finished the sentence with something like a dissertation about what's wrong with property taxes, big government, and industrial agriculture.  Then a few questions down, a sentence began, "Compared to other people, I'm..." and he'd finished it "itchy." (The heaters are drying his skin out this winter something fierce.)  Strangely enough, he hasn't heard back from that company since he submitted the form... now he's wondering exactly how they assess it.

[Redoverfarm]

People who DWI, and the faulty system that allows them to become repeat offenders, big problem in NM. *

The biggest problem here years ago was that the subsequent penaltys for 2,3 and following offenses could not be dealt with by the courts fast enough.  The harsher penaltys were based on proir convictions.  With appeals, contionuances and the like a DUI could be dragged on for 1-2 years. Had as many as 6 offenses in one year against one individual but only had 1st conviction in court to base the second offense on.  You think the goverments finances are messsed up you should enter into the court systems.  Actually a joke.  That is why you get more response for stricter laws rather than uphold the ones they have already.

[benevolance]

property tax.....

Seriously...I started writing the other day and I tried to list justification for property taxes...I did some research on it and it is bogus and according to my limited understanding of the constitution and the declaration of independence it is illegal

Maybe I am just pissed because I have to pay $1300 in taxes this year for a house I bought for $58,000

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Yep, property taxes are nothing more than a communist form of land ownership.  If you have to keep paying for your land year after year, even though you already bought it, and the government can take it away from you if you DON'T pay, then you never really own it, do you?

[ScottA]

Bad as I hate taxes, property taxes are the best since they support local government and schools usually. I remember the first time I filled out a property tax form here in Okla. and they wanted to know how many mules I had. 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

That's a good one, Scott.  The taxes on our old house in OK, on three lots and with three beds, one bath, and a detatched garage, ran about $2 the last year we lived there.  Compared to the $4K a year we pay here on a smaller lot and comparable house, it was like buying a piece of chewing gum.  However, I still hold that property taxes are unconstitutional, and I hate them fiercely, however large or small.  I seriously think that our whole system of taxation needs a serious overhaul.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

another pet peeve of mine:

waiting more than 30 minutes in a check out line to buy my kids two books for Christmas because the woman in front of me in line is on welfare and demanding her "right" to buy her tons of stuff tax exempt, while treating the cashier with utter contempt, AND wearing expensive designer-brand clothing that cost more than my whole wardrobe of thrift store bargains.

people who feel entitled in general

people who expect other tax-payers to fund their living

people who are able-bodied, but don't work because it is easier to draw a paycheck from the government

[glenn kangiser]

I am sure you are right on the tax, Homegrown.  Another is the annual tax we have to pay on our tools.  Yep -- own tools - work pay sales tax when you buy them and recurring annual taxes if they know you have tools to accomplish work with.

More peeves:

Rap music
Rappers
Gangs and gang members
Grafiti and taggers - commonly second or more generation Mexican but there are others - they spray paint everythng everywhere
Cities
Government and politicians
Slick people in suits - (the ones that use the suit to hide their real demeanor behind) as opposed to decent people in suits

That should do for a start.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

What kind of tools, Glenn?!  I'm assuming it must be for larger equipment, like tractors and excavators, etc?  Darn, better hide the router, bench grinder and table saw!!!  Does it apply for any tools, or just stuff you use to earn a living?  I had no idea that there was such a thing as a tool tax.... highway robbery. 

[MountainDon]

In most locales there is a "business personal property tax" on things; tools of all types, computers, shelving, desks, etc.... all the things that are used for your business purpose that are not otherwise taxed... like the building, the real estate, the trucks. Here the rate goes down incrementally on items that have been in service from prior years. If we replace a computer we are supposed to list the new item, remove the old and calculate tax on the new purchase price. PITA. Unless you are in business you've probably never heard of it.

[glenn kangiser]

You got it, Don.  I feel it is totally unfair, and it has to be illegal.

Applies to all tools and equipment.  I think they get it off your depreciation schedule also.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

That's absurd!  Probably has more of an effect on small business owners than larger companies, too, namely discouraging them from staying in business.

[glenn kangiser]

...or figuring ways around it if possible.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

the more likely case???

[glenn kangiser]

We have our methods.

[Redoverfarm]

That goes for farming as well. All the equipment used.  They also tax the cattle you have as well. 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

So what if you design and build your own tools and machinery?  Let's say you're a machinist and a bit of mechanic, and you build a tractor from scrap metal, can they still tax it even if you built it yourself from free materials? 

[benevolance]

homegrown they will think of some reason why you cannot be exepmt...If you ask them they will be sure to tell you that nobody is ever exampt from their taxes.

I had a dream the other night that I somehow hijacked all the nations tv signal and went on the airwaves and convinced america to stop paying property taxes....

It would work guys...think about it...If everyone just stopped paying it... their ability to enforce the tax would cease to exist and effectively we would kill it off...

Though likely they would send in the black helicopters after me for suggesting such a method

Another brilliant tax killing idea I had was to amass more than 500,000 people and move them all to a state with no population and  that way we could fix the vote and get rid of all the taxes....Which hopefully would start the chain reaction to get other states to eliminate illegal taxation

As for property taxes....I did a bunch of research and there is no justification that holds merit for the tax...

We pay for our water, sewer, garbage collection...We pay fees to drive cars on roads (gas taxes, license fees, license plates, insurance, tax on cars when we buy them) Our properties get no actual benefit from this tax...There is no justification for it.

As for Education...There are other taxes that have been introduced and the monies were supposedly going to be used to pay for it yes you guessed education...

So basically education is a whore for them....Anytime they need to raise a tax or invent a new one they throw the term education out there and then we are expected to start paying this new tax.

It just kills me inside to think that the average american has trouble paying their credit card bills... the average american has no health coverage and the average american will have trouble affording retirement...But we have all this money to fight wars...We are policing half the world...

We have planes and tanks that cost a billion dollars each...We spend more money on weapons research than we spend on medical research...And yet there is no money for education so they have to keep coming up with new ways to tax us

The only tax that they should ever be allowed to charge is on goods and services..A sales tax... If you want to buy goods and spend money on luxury items then you are taxed... But property...Should be tax exempt

I spend too much time thinking about ways to get out of paying property taxes...But it just galls at me so to think that they somehow managed to pull the wool over our eyes and get this tax passed???

Pay taxes on land for 50 years and miss a payment and they come and take it from you... This is a great system!

Please note the sarcasm....I wonder if they  talk about the legality and fairness of the taxation system when they are pumping up the young troops before shipping them off to slaughter innocent civilians in Iraq or wherever


Okay that was a bit harsh... But seriously We wave our flags and sing our anthems and think that this system is the best in the world and all of that bravado...It occured to me that we do so to shield ourselves from the bitter truth that it is all a lie. and if we stopped clinging to the flag and started asking questions we would not like the answers we would find.

[Sassy]

Benevolance,  yes, we are a long ways from our founding fathers' original ideas...  it is a shame - the politicians keep taking piece after piece of what is to be the citizen's - we still have a semblance of freedom, but that can be taken away in a second - declare martial law & it could all be over...     but most people, because they still have that so-called freedom, don't believe that there are laws that would take our freedoms away, don't believe that there are internment camps - ://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,198456,00.html  Now, mind you, this is Fox News  & they hardly ever print the truth...  but, for some reason, maybe to cause fear, they printed this...   

Critics Fear Emergency Centers Could Be Used for Immigration Round-Ups

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

WASHINGTON —  The military contractor that built the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and jails throughout Iraq has been tapped to construct facilities in the United States to be used in the event of "an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S."

The contract has sparked wide speculation that massive prisons are going to be built to detain illegal immigrants or even U.S citizens, fears that government officials say are unfounded.

"Our national immigration reform debate is going on real hot and heavy and there are conspiracy theories out there that we are building concentration camps," said Clay Church, spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "This contract has nothing to do with that whatsoever."

The contract, awarded in January to Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), a subsidiary of defense contractor Halliburton Co., pays the company to establish and provide support for "temporary detention and processing capabilities to augment existing ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) Program facilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs," according to a Halliburton press release.  con't at link above...

[MountainDon]

Re: Property Taxes. Speaking from my local level... (and not bothering about the perhaps illegality of collecting these taxes... for I see that there are some very valid services that those taxes buy.)

My city gets the money it spends mainly from two sources. A portion comes from it's share of the State/County/Municipality Gross Receipts Tax, commonly known as a sales tax. Another chunk comes from it's share of the property taxes. Now, I don't like paying any kind of taxes, fees, etc. BUT, if those taxes I mentioned were abolished tomorrow for whatever reason I see some consequences I don't like as well. The fire, emergency medical and police departments would stop functioning as their employees wouldn't have any paychecks coming in. OK, I've never made direct use of the fire department by having a fire, however I do like having them there, willing, able and ready. I have made use of the emergency medical services on the occasion of an auto accident that was no fault of my own. (one reason I hate DWI so much). On that same occasion I was glad there were police quickly on site.

Other consequences would include the closure of both of our public libraries. The city owned and operated swimming pools would close, or have to charge so much per person per use nobody could afford to go there. The skateboard park would deteriorate. Ditto, the softball and soccer sports fields as well as the public R/C aircraft field.

Nobody would be cleaning the streets or emptying the public trash receptacles around the cities parks. The grass in the parks would not be irrigated, nor would the grounds be maintained.

Eventually the paved roads would develop potholes and they would not be repaired. Not, not repaired in a timely manner; simply not repaired at all. Traffic lights would go out of order and stay that way. When I moved here there was one traffic light. That was with less than 20,000 people. Now the population is 80,000. Traffic is much heavier than it used to be. However, because of the expanding population tax base the roads keep being improved and the main thoroughfares widened. The traffic lights are controlled by a computerized system that alters the timing as needed for the most efficient flow.

I can not imagine the chaos that would result. My taxes have gone up but not in any outrageous manner. We pay about $1600 a year on the suburban home that could now be sold for around 175-180K. I could pay less in taxes and have less traffic if I moved to a smaller town. But I'd also have fewer services. The fire department would likely be a volunteer type. Nothing against VFD, but they'd likely arrive in time to water down the ashes. Same for EMT services, they'd more likely be 20 minutes to a half hour or more away rather than a few minutes.

I like independence. But in my view there are pluses to living in and taking part in a modern society, and to do so there must be compromises made. I'm willing to pay my property taxes because I see the above as benefiting my life.

OMMV

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Well, not just to be contentious, but shouldn't those that spend be the ones paying the taxes?  The only legitimate tax I can see is a sales tax... you get something tangible, goods and services, in return for the money.  I don't mind paying a tax on my house or car when I buy them BUT I should not have to pay for life, year after year.