I'm thinking about getting a new desk for my home-office. These were two at Amazon which caught my attention:
I like the appearance of this house, but it sits right next to some train tracks which were recently put into service again. There is a commuter train that passes within shouting distance. I have to wonder: did the valuation of the property change when the tracks were put back into service?
I wrote about Chares Rangel in the past:
Charles Rangel Abuses Rent Control
This time he's under greater scrutiny than by reporters, but I have to wonder, why does it take an investigative report to uncover some ethical violations by a politician? Shouldn't the politician's employer, the government, scrutinize itself? That should not be too much to ask, in my opinion.
Apparently he broke the law by not disclosing financial details related to a trip he took to the Caribbean. Big deal.
I heard from a reliable source that in the past, French real estate taxes were calculated by the number of windows in the building.
Surprising? Absolutely. Although I trust my source, I can't verify the authenticity.
I imagine that this tax structure resulted in some dark dining rooms!
I'm watching Monarch of the Glen and got curious about landowners in Scotland.
From what I've read, it sounds like the situation is pretty creepy - the landowners hide behind offshore tax havens, legally dodge taxes, and even receive grants for land maintenance. It reminds me of the farming subsidies here in the US - people think the money is going to independent farmers, but based upon what I've read, a lot of the funds actually goes to people and companies that have absolutely nothing to do with farming!
Scotland landownership is interesting topic, and these are the best websites I found about it:
- http://www.caledonia.org.uk/land/wos.htm
- http://www.caledonia.org.uk/land/whfp-011120.htm
- http://www.whoownsscotland.org.uk/ - requires subscription to view the data, but summarizes that even today, 8,201,739 acres are subdivided into only 1400 landholdings!
- http://www.whoownstheworld.com/
- http://www.who-owns-britain.com/
I've heard that Ted Turner owns more land than any other American - I wonder if there are any landowners of Scotland that own more land than he does? Apparently, there are several royal families / individuals with ownership of greater acreage.
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