The Witch's Grave Yard in the Back Waters Alabama

[Murfreesboro]

Good luck on your quest, Mike. There are a handful of states that don't have state income tax, including TN. This is attractive to many businesses. However, the sales tax is high here to compensate for lack of a state income tax (almost 10 cents on the dollar), and we pay it on everything, even food (although I think the tax on food was recently reduced slightly). And I am not aware of anyplace where people don't pay property tax of some sort, although I am sure the percentage varies from area to area. Isn't property tax what funds public schools?

As I guess you know, the federal income tax is a fairly recent development in our history. I believe Lincoln first used it to help fund the Civil War, but then it went away until Woodrow Wilson brought it back during WWI. Since then it has been with us as if it had always been there. In light of recent allegations re the IRS and its abuses directed toward certain political groups, I should think we might all reconsider whether we really want an IRS.

[Pumpkin_Man]

There are actualy places that don't have a property tax. Nevada has no property taxes because all the taxxes levied against the gambling industry pays for the public schools. Besides, in Nevada, there's only one large city. Los Vegas. I think 2nd is Carson City or Reno, but I don't know which, but other then those 3 towns, the state is pretty much a desert.

The thing is, if the taxes were reasonable, and the government was held more accountable, it wouldn't be so bad. As it stands now, at least in Illinois, the taxes have gone up, job creation has gone down, people are making their major purchases, such as cars, expensive stereos, etc in neighboring states because of the sales taxes, and to boot, we have fewer personal freedoms.

Mike

[Kolchak]

Woodrow Wilson and Abraham Lincoln were both big supporters of a strong central federal government. We've been paying the price for it ever since.

Florida has no state income tax but it gets you in other ways. When I lived down there they had just started the state lottery. They said the lottery was going to bring in millions for education. Originally the plan was for those millions to be in addition to the regular allocated funds put aside for education.

But, what happened was that after the lottery began to make money, the legislature stopped giving the schools their intended funds and made the schools live off the lottery. As such public education has been hurt badly over the past twenty years.

Give ANY politician YOUR money and they will NEVER do the proper and right thing with it.

[Murfreesboro]

We have a state lottery in TN, too, but it funds scholarships for higher education. So far both my boys have benefited from it. It didn't go very far for my older son at Vanderbilt (though he had other scholarships which made up the difference). However, it has been significant for my younger boy at MTSU. I believe the students have to have at least a B average in high school; then they have to maintain that standard in college.

I have a cousin who is nearing retirement in the public school system in St. Petersburg, FL. I know she is dissatisfied with the way public education has trended there.

One of the big issues for educators all over the country is this new "Common Core" curriculum. I am not fully informed about it, but I know my husband (a public school teacher here) and my cousin in FL don't like it. I believe they both think it represents a "dumbing down" of education. For example, in English (my own field), the students will be reading less literature and, I suppose, learning more in the way of rhetorical strategies. More pragmatic, I guess, and less intellectual.

[adrian]

PUMPKIN MAN! its been a while! been anywhere exciting lately? I found the old disk you sent me back in the day

[Andybev01]

Geez, Adrian it's been a while.

[adrian]

I know. and the sad thing is, is that I work mostly from home now. I'm going to start doing my best to get back into the swing of checking in more often. How have you been? We started last month clearing out some of our trails for little haunted trail for my brother. this heat is making it tough haha

[Andybev01]

I was off site as well, you-know-who was kind of out of hand and it got pretty skanky in here.

Thankfully halloween.com stepped in and it's been good.

I have no idea what this 'heat' is of which you speak. It's barely broken 70 this week and right now I'm sitting outside wearing a sweater having lunch.

Have you read up on Mac & Ciuin? They've been living in sin but getting hitched in October.

[adrian]

so "thou who shouldn't be named" is no longer here... again? lol that figures haha and no I haven't heard from Mac. That sounds awesome! and its in the 90s and HUMID here in Beulah Alabama. so bring on the fall

[NeverMore]

Hi guys!!!!






Psych!!!

[Andybev01]

Nevermore, you could have labelled that photo NSFW.

[Murfreesboro]

Great to see you back, Adrian!

[adrian]

LOL nevermore you're a trip! its good to hear from everybody. I wish I had a good excuse for being gone but eh... social media laziness really.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Hi Adrien:

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, but it's been a real bear finding time to get to Halloween.com.

I remember sending you that disc. I had a lot of fun shooting those photographs, too. I really want to do another 'haunted road trip' when the weather lets up, too. I also plan to go to the Illinois Railway Museum's October "Terror on the Rail Road" Halloween haunted house, too. I love train rides and I love creepy things.

For my next 'haunted road trip,' I am thinking in terms of something related to railroads, too. An abandoned tunnel, or a creepy old abandoned freight yard or train station. Some times, dead railroad tracks can look very creepy. When we moved to New Lenox, the sub devision we lived in use to be a gravel quary, and there was a railroad siding that was there so the gravel could be shipped out in gondola cars. My younger sister was actualy afraid to walk down those abandoned tracks, but I loved it. I practicaly lived on those abandoned railroad tracks, and that was the way I allways walked to and from high school. I never thought to take any photos of it, and now the tracks are long gone, and it's been replaced by a very namby pamby looking bicycle path.

Mike