This
View allAll Photos Tagged taxpayers
Driving into downtime Kansas City the light on the Kauffman Center for Performing Arts was beautiful, the warm hues of the setting sun reflecting on everything. It was a totally non taxpayer funded, created as a 501 non for profit. - [x] #developportdev @gothamtomato @developphotonewsletter @omsystem.cameras #excellent_america #omsystem @bheventspace @bhphoto @adorama @tamracphoto @tiffencompany #usaprimeshot #tamractales @mpbcom @kehcamera #penf @visitkc #microfourthirds #micro43 #micro43photography @kauffmancenter
Alternate title: “Financial Transparency”
Many of the residential units in these Super Talls remain unoccupied, as an exercise in “commodification” of real estate. Easier to store and exchange enormous wealth if you pay, say, $100million for an apartment here, and don’t bother to occupy or personalize it. Lots of prestige, and more liquidity than ordinary real estate. Yes, it’s April Fool’s Day, but the joke is on New York’s taxpayers, not you.
Skyline along W57th St and the southern border of Central Park, in Midtown Manhattan.
1 Apr 2022; 10:00 CDT;
273,38,9
… the 'too-big-to-fail-bank' told the somewhat concerned taxpayer!
One of my attempts at the "Macro Mondays" theme "Corner"
Shot with a Leitz "Focotar-2 50 mm F 4.5" (enlarging) lens on a Canon EOS R5.
The urns in this photo are classic examples of Korean pottery called "onggi" a.k.a. "jangdok." The urns are used primarily for assisting in the fermentation process. They most often hold gochujang (hot pepper paste), doenjang (fermented bean paste), kimchi (fermented seasoned vegetables), or soy sauce, although they are sometimes used for other purposes including storage for water. Onggi is made of clay with a high iron content and is very porous. The onggi urns vary in size from about a gallon upwards to 60-gallons. The ones in this photo were in the upper end of the spectrum and were about waist-tall. The origin of onggi can be traced to about 4000-5000 BC. Wiki has this to say, "…all onggi types share some properties. These are biodegradability, porosity, and its proof against rot as well as firmness or "vertebration". Although onggi urns are historically a Korean product, the urns are now made in other locations including the state of Montana in the U.S. Here is a link to one such example.
www.adamfieldpottery.com/onggi
Quote Of The Day:
"Congress has doubled the IRS budget over the past 10 years -- making that agency one of the fastest growing non-entitlement programs. It has increased its employment by 20 percent. The IRS’s powers to investigate and examine taxpayers transcend those of any other law enforcement agency. Virtually all of the constitutional rights regarding search and seizure, due process, and jury trial simply do not apply to the IRS." (Daniel Pilla)
Apols for another photo from my hols, if I don't keep posting then they'll never see the light of day based on past experience. Anyway, this was post-facial. I decided to have a trip down to Elgol to see what all the fuss was about. Well, the rain stopped for a few minutes and the sun even came out! Hopefully this wave gives you an idea of the Westerly winds battering the island.
In other news, I've just had fun filling in this Government consultation:
www.gov.uk/government/consultations/choice-on-units-of-me...
What a wonderful use of taxpayers' money - running a consultation on bringing back imperial measures! JRM's Sun campaign has obviously been bearing fruit 😑
www.thepoke.co.uk/2022/02/10/jacob-rees-mogg-asked-sun-re...
These elaborate eroded pockets in the Navajo Sandstone wall of the San Rafael River canyon are called tafoni. Their origin is debated among geomorphologists. Possible explanations include the leaching of minerals that cement some parts of the rock making it more resistant to erosion, variation in the velocity of wind currents blowing across the rock, or differential patterns of rock breakdown (weathering) due to temperature variations. This is yet another clear failing of science, despite squandering tens of dollars of taxpayer money on research to study geomorphological processes.
Using intuition and creative thinking as guides, I have an alternate explanation which works just as well as “science” to explain these formations. I believe that tafoni are constructed by a species of small humanoid creatures, who etched these pockets into the stone as places to escape the elements. They were contemporaries of the ancient Greeks, and were impressed with the architecture and stonework at Petra, thus producing aesthetically appealing arches such as the ones shown here. Although no remnants of these microhumans remain (they were probably consumed by packrats around 2000 years ago), their excavations (tafoni) can be found throughout the world, a testament to their diligence and perseverance.
Very Large Array in New Mexico. These radio telescopes are constantly listening to the skies for alien signs of life. Waste of taxpayer money or not, they have made this remote part of New Mexico somewhat famous. The movie "Contact" with Jodie Foster was filmed here.
Since Tuesday is a slow day on Flickr, I know you won’t mind listening to my rant. Sand and gravel is what passes for paving on our back country roads. This doesn’t bother me so much as the sign that says “Loose Gravel”. Excuse me, but of course it is loose gravel. If it was attached to something it would be asphalt, tar and chips or even macadam. Loose gravel seems redundant to me and a waste of the taxpayers dollars for the sign. There are many gravel roads and driveways in this area. People describe them as e.g., “His place is down the gravel road - the second house on the left.“ No-one says down the loose gravel road. It sounds as if the gravel has escaped from somewhere. I can hear the quarry foreman now, “Hey, Charlie the gravel has escaped again. Round up the guys to put up the Loose Gravel signs!” I bet they have never gotten any of the gravel back either. Thank you for listening. You may resume your day now ... LOL
The Noa cost 157,868,518 euros
NOA-New Apuan Hospital, 338 beds.
Massa Carrara-province that the NOA hospital must serve, 195 thousand people.
Il Noa è costato 157.868.518 euro
Nuovo Ospedale Apuano, 338 posti letto.
Massa Carrara: provincia che l'ospedale NOA deve servire, 195 mila persone.
m.toscanamedianews.it/massa-il-nuovo-ospedale-e-uneccelle...
e....toscanamedianews ha anche il coraggio di elogiare l'ospedale e il politico che inaugura....
The new government Executive Services building will cost the Queensland taxpayers $10.5 million dollars per year for the next 15 years to pay off, excluding maintenance costs which will be terrific in themselves.
Chosen for its graphic elements—complementary palette, vertical-horizontal contrasts, broken symmetry in reflection, rhythmic dark verticals. Titled as a metaphor of hope for the new year.
An impermanent pond, filled by rainwater, in a pocket of remnant woodland too small to hold a residential lot between the street behind me and the levee ahead. The levee separates two Levee Improvement Districts, each funded by resident taxpayers, both of which pump floodwater into the Brazos River during storms.
12 Jan 21, 6:45 CST. 26mmFFeq. SOOC, only cropped.
The Noa cost 157,868,518 euros
NOA-New Apuan Hospital, 338 beds.
Massa Carrara-province that the NOA hospital must serve, 195 thousand people.
Il Noa è costato 157.868.518 euro
Nuovo Ospedale Apuano, 338 posti letto.
Massa Carrara: provincia che l'ospedale NOA deve servire, 195 mila persone.
m.toscanamedianews.it/massa-il-nuovo-ospedale-e-uneccelle...
e....toscanamedianews ha anche il coraggio di elogiare l'ospedale e il politico che inaugura....
Well it’s well over a decade the new World Trade Center (WTC) Transportation Hub or Oculus opened at the WTC site. It certainly is a unique structure, described by some as a cross between a porcupine and a stegosaurus it is the 4 billion dollar design of Santiago Calatrava with larger interior space the Grand Central Station’s Grand Concourse that replaced the old underground station that was completely destroyed by the tragic events of September 11, 2001. In all probability it is probably the most expensive train station every built at a cost of about 4 billion. A marvelous structure inside and out this image is of the west facing entrance. The US taxpayers via the federal government provided 2.87 billion of the 4 billion dollar cost. Now going to the station during rush hour, my observation is while there is a lot of foot traffic as commuters move across the to the underground walkway to the Fulton Center, it’s not on the same playing field as the traffic of Grand Central Station and the woefully crowed and outdated Pennsylvania Station uptown. Looking at the actual figures the estimate for daily commuters pre COVID 19 pandemic was 46,000 PATH riders a day compared with Grand Central Stations 208,000 daily Metro North riders. So is it more of a 4 billion shopping mall as opposed to a transit hub, with beautiful Italian marble floors, it certainly a beautiful structure but like many structures it is far different from Calatrava’s original design. The cost is double what originally was estimated in 2005 2 billion dollar estimate.
- [ ] #developportdev @gothamtomato @developphotoweek @omsystem.cameras #excellent_america #omsystem @bheventspace
- [ ] #developportdev @gothamtomato @developphotonewsletter @omsystem.cameras #excellent_america @omsystem.cameras #omsystem
@bhphoto @adorama @tamracphoto @tiffencompany @nycurbanism @nybucketlist @wtc #oculus #wtc @kehcamera
The Noa cost 157,868,518 euros
NOA-New Apuan Hospital, 338 beds.
Massa Carrara-province that the NOA hospital must serve, 195 thousand people.
Il Noa è costato 157.868.518 euro
Nuovo Ospedale Apuano, 338 posti letto.
Massa Carrara: provincia che l'ospedale NOA deve servire, 195 mila persone.
m.toscanamedianews.it/massa-il-nuovo-ospedale-e-uneccelle...
e....toscanamedianews ha anche il coraggio di elogiare l'ospedale e il politico che inaugura....
Or whatever you wanna call it, leads another empty train of taxpayer money by the Mannheim Rd in Franklin Park, IL. May 6, 2020
There is a major difference in this photo depending if you are on the East or West side of the United States.
If you are on the East coast and you have gotten to this point, Farmer Brown is going to be seeing you soon with his shotgun showing you how to get back off his property. There would be no Private Property signs as everyone knows it is private property and understands they should not enter.
If you are on the Western side of the US the lack of a Private Property sign tells you that you are on Federal or State owned land and it is for you to go through the gate, make sure you close it to keep the cattle in and go enjoy the land that you own as a taxpayer
Ride along as we tour the East Rim of the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area, near Safford, Arizona, USA. You start on the West side and need to drive down into the canyon and cross the river. Then up the the canyon to the East Rim, and return to Safford, Total time was about 8 hours.
Today is an orange day at Color my World Daily and the theme at Crazy Tuesday is a crazy macro/closeup. I immediately thought about the picture I took of Yellow lady walking her dinosaur. It was on January the 19th, 2024. I had too much wine and chocolate the day before, so I could not sleep. It was about 5am in the morning (however the time on my camera is a little bit off so the exact hour is unknown). The sun was nearly getting up and I was looking outside, hoping that my hungover will soon go away. And then I saw Yellow Lady, walking her dinosaur on a leash. As we all know, dinosaurs are like exotic animals and you are absolutely not allowed to keep them at home ! However, long time ago Yellow Lady got a dinosaur egg as a gift from a very important politician and for diplomatic reasons she accepted the gift. Few month later: a dinosaur hatch from that egg. And long story short, it has been 17 years since Yellow Lady walks her dinosaur daily very, very early in the morning and hopes that no one will report it to the authorities… Yes, she got attached to her Dino and consider it as a son…so please, don’t call the police ! If you do, I’m pretty much sure they will consider this picture to be a very crazy closeup and you might be accused of wasting taxpayers' money…
Mucho, mucho amor for you my friends !! Have a beautiful day !!!
Thank you so much for all your lovely comments / favs/ general support / happy thoughts!! Stay safe and well!! And see you soon on Flickr !
Lighthouse at the north end of Chautauqua Lake. Erected in the last few years with Nfew Yourk taxpayers' dollars. Why??
The Tippecanoe County Courthouse is located on the public square in the city of Lafayette in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. The public square is located between the north-south 3rd and 4th Streets and between the east-west Main and Columbia Streets.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It is located in the Downtown Lafayette Historic District. 72000013
History
When the county was first organized in 1826, rooms were rented in which to conduct county business, until 1829 when the first courthouse was built; it was a two-story brick building. It was replaced by a larger brick building in 1845 at a cost of about $3,000; there was a fire in this building in the 1840s, but it was extinguished before it could do any damage. The third and current courthouse was built on the site from 1881 to 1884 at a cost of about $500,000. It is built of Indiana limestone and is two-and-a-half stories tall on a raised basement. Architecturally, it is a pastiche of styles including Second Empire, Beaux Arts, Baroque, Rococo, Georgian and Neo-Classical. Paul Goeldner in his study of Midwestern courthouses called the building the "epitome of county capitals".
When Samuel Clemens visited Lafayette he was asked his opinion about the Tippecanoe County Courthouse by a local newspaper reporter; Clemens replied: "Striking, striking indeed! It must have struck the taxpayers a mighty blow!" The comment was accurate as this was the most expensive courthouse built in the state until the Allen County Courthouse was built some twenty years later. The courthouse has one hundred columns, nine statues, an elongated dome with four clock faces and a 3,000-pound (1,400 kg) bell tuned to C-sharp. A 14-foot statue depicting liberty tops the courthouse dome at a height of 212 feet.
(Wikipedia)
On the grounds of the courthouse square are a couple more statues. On the southwest side is one of the five Indiana bison-tennial statues allocated to Lafayette and West Lafayette to celebrate the state's 200th birthday in 2016 – this one was decorated by Lorie Amick and LaDonna Vohar and features an Indiana flag draped over the buffalo's hind quarters and a cardinal (the state bird) perched on one of its horns.
Wait until the taxpayer$ get this band aid ripped off...bleeding will be the least of the problem$!
Workflow - rectangle, a couple layers for the dimples and pad, a layer for the benjamin. Make a pattern from it and then apply to several layers.
The Clyde T Barbour Parkway crosses over Germantown Rd. in western Mason County, Kentucky. The bridge is just over 20 years old and has structural issues resulting in a section of it's northbound deck being removed....sad waste of taxpayer's money due to faulty engineering or oversight.
If you're going to Seattle take an hour to visit Chihuly's glass sculpting. There's a garden as well as indoor exhibits. All hand blown and designed by Chihuly until he needed help as he grew very old but still talented. A virtue not admired in today's Republican government. I'm certain if there was natural gas beneath the site of his museum Trump would gladly destroy it and build a grotesque building alongside it just to see his pitiful name on it. Let the taxpayers pay for the leeching into the water say the GOP without a second thought.
The Noa cost 157,868,518 euros
NOA-New Apuan Hospital, 338 beds.
Massa Carrara-province that the NOA hospital must serve, 195 thousand people.
Il Noa è costato 157.868.518 euro
Nuovo Ospedale Apuano, 338 posti letto.
Massa Carrara: provincia che l'ospedale NOA deve servire, 195 mila persone.
m.toscanamedianews.it/massa-il-nuovo-ospedale-e-uneccelle...
e....toscanamedianews ha anche il coraggio di elogiare l'ospedale e il politico che inaugura....
" Navigate " as its called as four Installations in the City Centre....This one is called "Zenith" it as a series of blue lights in Queen Victoria Square. Dont really know what they are supposed to represent...Complete waste of Taxpayers money in my opinion .
I guess there are a few London landmarks in this image but the one I am aiming for is the nearby pedestrian bridge which spans the Thames between St Paul's Cathedral (out of sight on the right), and the Tate Modern art gallery on the left.
Intended as a grand gesture to celebrate the new millennium, it got off to a shaky start - literally - after pedestrians experienced an alarming swaying motion on its opening day. The bridge was closed later that day and, after two days of limited access, it was closed again for almost two years so that modifications and repairs could be made to keep the bridge stable and stop the swaying motion. It reopened in February 2002.
It recently reopened to the public after a three week closure for essential maintenance work, following a project to replace the synthetic membrane between the aluminium bridge deck and steel structure underneath.
Contractors also used the closure as an opportunity to give the 23-year-old structure a deep clean.
The bridge is owned and maintained by 900-year-old charity City Bridge Foundation, at no cost to the taxpayer.
100x: The 2024 Edition
10/100 London landmarks by night
nice to walk on it, we just have to find it
May 7, pitch black night at 4 am with 18.5% waning crescent to show up in about 2.5 hours. No light painting is allowed in Arches National park so I enjoyed the beauty of the Balanced Rock as presented by mother nature against the one and only Way. I was amused to see that the core was starting just above the light supplied by taxpayers in Moab. A few clouds were keeping me company, shooting stars just passing by in a hurry to catch the burn.
Nice and warm, plenty of time for a pano but also for admiring the core of the Milky Way
[18mm, 8x sky frames, ISO 8000, f/2.8, 20 sec, 6x foreground frames, ISO 20000, f/2.8, 25 sec]
Seriously, do we really need a plebiscite to decide whether the relationships of all Australians should be treated equally under Australian Law? The 2013 High Court decision made it clear that Parliament has the power to pass a bill to resolve this, and they know that the majority of Australians support it (the Liberal Party’s own research shows that 75% of Australians support marriage equality), so just do it.
With the plebiscite estimated to cost the Australian tax payer over $150 million, I as a taxpayer, disagree intensely with such wastefulness. There are so many places where this money would be better spent.
The plebiscite will give anti-gay campaigners the biggest stage they have ever had and will be a dangerous and divisive campaign which really is just not needed.
No plebiscite … just marriage equality.
The Noa cost 157,868,518 euros
NOA-New Apuan Hospital, 338 beds.
Massa Carrara-province that the NOA hospital must serve, 195 thousand people.
Il Noa è costato 157.868.518 euro
Nuovo Ospedale Apuano, 338 posti letto.
Massa Carrara: provincia che l'ospedale NOA deve servire, 195 mila persone.
m.toscanamedianews.it/massa-il-nuovo-ospedale-e-uneccelle...
e....toscanamedianews ha anche il coraggio di elogiare l'ospedale e il politico che inaugura....
The man who has no refuge in himself, who lives, so to speak, in his front rooms, in the outer whirlwind of things and opinions, is not properly speaking a personality at all; he is not distinct, free, original, a cause -- in a word, SOMEONE. He is one of the crowd, a taxpayer, an elector, an anonymity, but not a man. On the other hand, he who asks of life nothing but the improvement of his own nature, and a continuous good progress towards inner contentment and spiritual submission, is less likely than anyone to miss and waste that life.
-- Henri Frédéric Amiel
I had a great time taking pictures of this bridge tonight with my brother and nephew. This bridge is right next to the Gathering Place and Zink Lake. The bridge opened last year and is a great addition to the river parkway that they have developed here. The lights really stand out in the night on the river and make for great night photography.
In the daytime, you can see people surfing and riding the rapids in the water features that they created here. You can enjoy a walk along the river, jog, or ride your bike. There are also skating areas, basketball, tennis, play structures for kids. And it's all free without using taxpayers' money. Pretty amazing.
The Noa cost 157,868,518 euros
NOA-New Apuan Hospital, 338 beds.
Massa Carrara-province that the NOA hospital must serve, 195 thousand people.
Il Noa è costato 157.868.518 euro
Nuovo Ospedale Apuano, 338 posti letto.
Massa Carrara: provincia che l'ospedale NOA deve servire, 195 mila persone.
m.toscanamedianews.it/massa-il-nuovo-ospedale-e-uneccelle...
e....toscanamedianews ha anche il coraggio di elogiare l'ospedale e il politico che inaugura....
The Kaufmann Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, USA, at 16th and Broadway, near the Power & Light District, the Sprint Center and the Crossroads Arts District. Its construction was a major part of the ongoing redevelopment of downtown Kansas City.
The Center was created as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Unlike some other major civic construction projects, no taxpayer funds went into its construction. The City of Kansas City contributed to and operates a parking garage adjacent to the Kaufmann Center.
It is the performance home to the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and the Kansas City Ballet which in the past performed at the Lyric Theatre, eight blocks north of the center. The Kaufmann Center houses two unique performance venues: Muriel Kaufmann Theatre and Helzberg Hall.
According to its website, the Kaufmann Center's mission is "to enrich the lives of communities throughout the region, country and world by offering extraordinary and diverse performing arts experiences" The Kaufmann Center seeks to fulfill this mission by offering a wide selection of performances, and also by offering specific programs to connect with the youth in the Kansas City area.
The Noa cost 157,868,518 euros
NOA-New Apuan Hospital, 338 beds.
Massa Carrara-province that the NOA hospital must serve, 195 thousand people.
Il Noa è costato 157.868.518 euro
Nuovo Ospedale Apuano, 338 posti letto.
Massa Carrara: provincia che l'ospedale NOA deve servire, 195 mila persone.
m.toscanamedianews.it/massa-il-nuovo-ospedale-e-uneccelle...
e....toscanamedianews ha anche il coraggio di elogiare l'ospedale e il politico che inaugura....
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City,_Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the most populated municipality and historic core city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Kansas–Missouri state line and has a population of 2,392,035. Most of the city lies within Jackson County, with portions spilling into Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River coming in from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued, and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after.
Sitting on Missouri's western boundary with Kansas, with Downtown near the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, the city encompasses about 319.03 square miles (826.3 km2), making it the 23rd largest city by total area in the United States. It serves as one of the two county seats of Jackson County, along with the major suburb of Independence. Other major suburbs include the Missouri cities of Blue Springs and Lee's Summit and the Kansas cities of Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa, and Kansas City, Kansas.
The city is composed of several neighborhoods, including the River Market District in the north, the 18th and Vine District in the east, and the Country Club Plaza in the south. Celebrated cultural traditions include Kansas City jazz, theater, which was the center of the Vaudevillian Orpheum circuit in the 1920s, the Chiefs and Royals sports franchises, and famous cuisine based on Kansas City-style barbecue, Kansas City strip steak, and craft breweries.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kauffman_Center_for_the_Performing_...
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, USA, at 16th and Broadway, near the Power & Light District, the T-Mobile Center and the Crossroads Arts District. Its construction was a major part of the ongoing redevelopment of downtown Kansas City.
The Center was created as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Unlike some other major civic construction projects, no taxpayer funds went into its construction. The City of Kansas City contributed to and operates a parking garage adjacent to the Kauffman Center.
It is the performance home to the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and the Kansas City Ballet which in the past performed at the Lyric Theatre, eight blocks north of the center. The Kauffman Center houses two unique performance venues: Muriel Kauffman Theatre and Helzberg Hall.
According to its website, the Kauffman Center's mission is "to enrich the lives of communities throughout the region, country and world by offering extraordinary and diverse performing arts experiences". Not only do notable performances take place almost weekly, but the Center is a place where the KC community comes together and celebrates the city's rich arts culture. The Kauffman Center seeks to fulfill this mission by offering a wide selection of performances, and also by offering specific programs to connect with the youth in the Kansas City area.
the only two things in life that are 100% guaranteed: death & Alitalia will never go out of business!!
(at least they picked a gorgeous c/s with their taxpayers money, which is really EU taxpayers money, which...aahh, I digress)
The Noa cost 157,868,518 euros
NOA-New Apuan Hospital, 338 beds.
Massa Carrara-province that the NOA hospital must serve, 195 thousand people.
Il Noa è costato 157.868.518 euro
Nuovo Ospedale Apuano, 338 posti letto.
Massa Carrara: provincia che l'ospedale NOA deve servire, 195 mila persone.
m.toscanamedianews.it/massa-il-nuovo-ospedale-e-uneccelle...
e....toscanamedianews ha anche il coraggio di elogiare l'ospedale e il politico che inaugura....
Mt Tamalpais looming over San Quentin State Prison on an overcast & moonlit morning.
Today there are 2.3 million people in jails and prisons costing US Taxpayers 80 billion per year and, despite only having approximately 5% of the global population the U.S. has nearly 25% of the worlds prison population.
Shot at 70mm with the Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 zoom lens. Three images stitched together in Adobe Camera Raw.
Time to change
Brazil is going through a difficult political process. A huge part of the people is tired of corruption, bad administration, and the miserable bribe circus that one particular political party keeps doing with taxpayers money.
Yesterday, August 16th, Brazilians went down the streets once again looking for the impeachment of one of the dirtiest presidents in Brazilian history.
Building of Toshima Ward is the first local government office in Japan which built condominium above the office building. All expense for the construction was covered by the sales of the luxury 430 rooms of the condominium and expenditure of the local government was zero. Taxpayers are satisfied with its clever way.
Taken in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan
...on a warm humid summer night. my water is in the spotlight.
no, I am not watching trump's celebration, ode to trump, even tho' the taxpayers, including me, are probably paying for it. and it cost a bunch.
happy 4th for those who celebrate it.
Thank you, in advance, to those of you who take a moment to leave a comment and/or fave my photo. I appreciate it tremendously.
This row of lighting can be found near the entrance to the Nixon Library / Museum. I really did love the combination of the natural and 'not so natural' lighting.
The Nixon Library opened on July 20, 1990 at the cost of $22 million and was built and maintained using no taxpayer funds.
The cost after the expansion: $39 million.
The museum grounds include the First Lady’s Rose Gardens, a large reflecting pool and the small frame house, built with his own hands by the President’s father, in which Richard Nixon was born on January 9, 1913.
Located near the birthplace is the gravesite of the President and his First Lady, surrounded by tranquil gardens.
This 9-acre museum can be found in Yorba Linda, California.
The Noa cost 157,868,518 euros
NOA-New Apuan Hospital, 338 beds.
Massa Carrara-province that the NOA hospital must serve, 195 thousand people.
Il Noa è costato 157.868.518 euro
Nuovo Ospedale Apuano, 338 posti letto.
Massa Carrara: provincia che l'ospedale NOA deve servire, 195 mila persone.
m.toscanamedianews.it/massa-il-nuovo-ospedale-e-uneccelle...
e....toscanamedianews ha anche il coraggio di elogiare l'ospedale e il politico che inaugura....
lpfw.org/forest-service-to-expedite-logging-and-habitat-c...
The Forest Service recently announced plans to selectively log old-growth forest and chaparral across 755 acres deep in the Ventura County backcountry. The agency quietly released the proposal in late May amid a pandemic, economic crisis, and period of civil unrest, offering the public a single 30-day period to submit comments. Officials indicated that they hope to use a loophole to approve the project without an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.
The project would allow the logging of centuries-old trees, up to five feet in diameter, and the clearance of rare old-growth chaparral along six miles of the prominent ridge known as Pine Mountain stretching from Highway 33 to Reyes Peak. The area is a popular recreation destination beloved by hikers and climbers.
Despite the project’s massive scale, the Forest Service intends to use two controversial loopholes to bypass requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to conduct a detailed study of potential impacts to the area’s unique ecosystems. These loopholes would also limit the public’s ability to voice their concerns while eliminating the official objection process that helps reduce the potential for litigation.
“Once again, the Trump administration has shown its willingness and desire to avoid conducting the level of environmental review needed to ensure that places like Pine Mountain are protected from damaging and unnecessary projects such as this one,” said Los Padres ForestWatch conservation director Bryant Baker. “To make matters worse, the Forest Service’s use of loopholes for this project has diminished the public’s ability to participate in the decision-making process—and they made their announcement at a time when citizens are focused on the COVID-19 crisis and fighting racial injustice.”
The ridge is home to some of the most diverse and unique habitats in the Los Padres National Forest. Pine Mountain hosts the greatest diversity of coniferous tree species in Ventura County, which occur next to large expanses of rare old-growth chaparral. Altogether, the ridge is home to over 400 species of native plants, including dozens that are rare or sensitive. As a biodiversity hotspot, the area is also home to several species of wildlife that depend on the mountain’s unique ecosystems. Mountain lions, black bears, bobcats, and numerous species of birds and small mammals can be found in and around the project area.
The agency has not confirmed whether this project will involve the selling of cut trees, but the Forest Service often uses agreements known as “stewardship contracts” for similar projects that allow private logging companies to profit from the timber harvest in exchange for services. Regardless, the agency has stated that trees and chaparral will be removed using mechanical equipment which can cause significant damage to soil, water, and plants that are not being targeted.
“The Trump administration is trying to hand over our southern California national forests to the logging industry, at taxpayer expense,” said Dr. Chad Hanson, forest ecologist with the John Muir Project, based in Big Bear City, California. “This destructive logging proposal would degrade wildlife habitat and make climate change worse, and would increase threats to human communities from wildland fire; we need Congress to protect our National Forests from logging once and for all,” he added.
The Forest Service has proposed the project under the guise of community protection from wildfire despite countless scientific studies that demonstrate that remote vegetation treatments, such as the Pine Mountain project, are ineffective against the fires that cause the majority of damage to communities each year. Pine Mountain is several miles away from any community, and the agency itself admits that the project will not help mitigate fire spread under extreme weather conditions. In fact, the Forest Service’s own assessment of existing and potential vegetation removal projects in the Los Padres National Forest ranks the one on Pine Mountain as only 118 out 163 in terms of priority for community protection and other factors.
In 2017 and 2018, just six fires out of 16,600 throughout California caused nearly 90% of the total damage to communities. All six fires burned under conditions that render vegetation removal projects, such as the one proposed on Pine Mountain, useless for suppression purposes. Moreover, vegetation clearance projects can increase wildfire risk by removing fire-resistant trees, increasing heating and drying of the forest floor, and spreading non-native invasive grasses and weeds that ignite more easily and spread wildfire more quickly.
Scientists and conservation organizations have long advocated that funding should be directed instead to creating defensible space directly next to homes, retrofitting and building structures with fire-safe materials, and reducing development in the wildland-urban interface.
“The Los Padres National Forest administration has a record of not only ignoring the science,” Richard Halsey, director of the California Chaparral Institute, said, “but also of violating agreements to collaborate with scientists and community members to manage the public’s land. Los Padres officials are well aware that the science does not support this project to clear fragile habitat far from communities at risk. This project is about obtaining taxpayer dollars to support the agency, not protecting citizens from fire.”
Over 30% of the project is within two proposed additions to the Sespe Wilderness approved by the House of Representatives with the passage of the Central Coast Heritage Protection Act earlier this year. The legislation would designate an area along part of the western portion of the ridge and an area that includes Reyes Peak. The bill is currently awaiting a vote in the Senate.
The proposal comes at a time when the Trump administration is attempting massive rollbacks of regulations under NEPA and similar laws. Earlier this month, the president issued an executive order that would waive requirements under these bedrock environmental laws for a wide variety of projects on federal lands. The Forest Service has also been directed to ramp up vegetation removal projects across the country, especially those that involve timber harvesting. Last year, Los Padres National Forest approved two commercial logging projects near Mt. Pinos under loopholes that similarly allowed the agency to avoid conducting the level of environmental review that is normal for such projects.
The public comment period is open until June 30 and may be the only chance the public has to weigh in with concerns about the Pine Mountain project. To submit a comment online or learn more about the project, visit p2a.co/IASAFIf
Kathy Toth || Toronto Graffiti Archive || Instagram
This house, 2712 Cass Ave (on the right) is in the middle of Illichville in Detroit. Everything was built up around it because at one point the owner was asking $5mil plus for this slanty 1800's fire trap. Not sure who should be judged poorly for this, but the Illichs quietly bought up this entire neighborhood for more than a decade to have a home for their new arena, which taxpayers HEAVILY subsidized.
Interesting film on the area: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrbIVw_4PVo
Now the entire neighborhood has been renamed too.
Billionaires should pay their way, they don't give out free tickets to all the taxpayers, that's for sure.
This shot is from 2015 when the media was there for a different reason, this is what happened last night :
www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/08/08/fi...
NJ Transit's Atlantic City Express Service (ACES) was a short-lived inter-city train that operated between New York Penn Station and Atlantic City with only one intermediate stop at Newark. The operation was funded by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) and three casinos in partnership. The CRDA is a state agency, as is NJ Transit, so essentially New Jersey taxpayers paid for it all, regardless of which agency funded it. Needless to say, the service was a failure and was in operation for only three years (2009-2011). The consist was certainly unique, operating with an ALP-44 electric on one end and a former Amtrak P40DC diesel on the other. The ALP powered the train between New York and Frankford Junction PA where the diesel took over for the Atlantic City leg of the journey. Push-pull operation was necessitated by the reverse move at Frankford. The train seen here was operating during the final summer of service, with 4803 leading through Edison, NJ and 4405 shoving from the rear. The 8 cars specially equipped for this service would be sent back to Bombardier to be rebuilt as regular commuter coaches. The P40DCs would put in a few more years of service on commuter assignments post-2011 before being sold to the State of Connecticut (CT Rail).
NJTR 4803 P40DC
NJTR 4405 ALP-44