Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

And Spain is one of the cheaper countries to live in Europe believe it or not. UK, France, Germany, pretty much all the Scandinavian countries- good bit more expensive. If I lived in Europe it would probably be the mediterranean coast in Spain or in Italy. Not just cheaper cost of living than the northern countries, but weather is obviously much better. So is the food.

America is the only place I would ever live. I love this god damn place. And you don't realize how great we have it and how f'ing lucky we are until you get out and see other parts of the world.

Well, yeah.  From an infrastructure perspective, some parts of Spain and Italy are closer to third world than first. 
 

a) none of your property tax goes to the feds. it's a local tax

No shit Sherlock. I don’t pay income tax to the state or county or city, and I damn sure don’t want anymore taxes going to the fed. The only tax I would be ok with increasing, very slightly, is the fuel tax because it hasn’t been raised in 30+ years and we need it for roads/infrastructure. And believe me, I spend $5-12,000 a month in fuel for my biz. So it would definitely be felt. 

My property tax goes toward school funding, county funding, and other local municipalities. I don’t even think any of it goes to the state , but I need to double check. 

It was interesting being on very long bus rides and Egypt and Jordan last year, and then bus rides in Israel (two of them).

Europe has some very old "secondary" roads out there, maybe I should say "tertiary".  The RNs in France are usually fine, akin to US highways here.  If you get into the hinterlands, the roads get pretty dicey.  I agree the fuel tax should be increased, most of the tax is state, not Fed (18.5 cents on gasoline).

HELSINKI (AP) — A 12-year-old student opened fire at a secondary school in southern Finland on Tuesday morning, killing one and seriously wounded two other students, police said. The suspect was later apprehended.

Heavily armed police cordoned off the Viertola school — a large educational institution including lower and upper secondary schools with a total of about 800 students — in the city of Vantaa, just outside the capital, Helsinki, after receiving a call about a shooting incident at 09:08 a.m.

Police said both the suspect and the victims were 12 years old.

One of the students had died instantly after being shot, Chief of Police Ilkka Koskimäki from the Eastern Uusimaa Police Department told a news conference. The other two were seriously wounded, he said.

The weapon used in the shooting was a registered handgun that was licensed to the suspect’s relative, Koskimäki said.

It was interesting being on very long bus rides and Egypt and Jordan last year, and then bus rides in Israel (two of them).

a white man from America visiting those places? you have brass balls of steel my friend. I would love to visit Egypt, Jordan, and Israel, but I also value my life.

I never felt an iota of threat in Jordan and Egypt EXCEPT that when we landed in Aqaba, "they" took our passports, and then it was a very long day.  I had left my wallet in our cabin, so I had zero ID.  Then, our tour went quite late, and we were more than an hour late getting back to the ship.  

I had this fear the ship would depart on time, but as it was a tour provided by the cruise, they waited, and in fact said there were over 100 more people still out.  They don't leave without passengers on excursions booked through the cruise line.  So, there is that.  Otherwise, it was "safe" other than perhaps getting to close to a camel.

This was in Jordan, we got our passports back later and they were already stamped for entry into Egypt before we ported in Egypt.  The excursion there was over 8 hour, rather exhausting, long bus rides over uncertain roads to the Nile and back.

Israel at times felt a bit uncomfortable because there were serious looking IDF types in some places, especially inside old Jerusalem.  I wouldn't go to Israel today, but this was a year ago.  We also stopped in Oman, which also didn't feel at all unsafe.

Alternate shipping channel opens after bridge collapse (msn.com)

Plans for federal aid have yet to be announced, however Jean-Pierre told reporters that the White House is “going to certainly continue to talk to Congress to get some assistance here.”

*********************

This is the start of recovery. Good news. My only question:

Since when has this White House asked Congress to appropriate funds?