Seems like you have no need for government at all. Perhaps we can remove your name and address from 911 computers to free up space for someone who might rely on some agency of govt. (police, ambulance or fire).
arthur -----Original Message----- From: Harry Pollard [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, November 4, 2003 5:35 PM To: Cordell, Arthur: ECOM; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [Futurework] E.European Women discover the Joys of Free Trade Arthur, I guess protectionists are glad that the zoning laws are so weak or non-existent in So. Calif. that people can build anywhere. Though what zoning laws have to do with free trade or protection, I fail to see. I suppose Arthur, old friend, you have trouble distinguishing between local zoning laws and the 75,000 pages of regulations in the Federal Register. I bet that's your economic education, where the 75,000 pages are probably considered economies of scale. Now for some basic economics. Land speculation forces people to settle wherever they can, often many miles from where they want to be. Also in areas that may pose danger - but, not immediate danger and not likely danger. When I first looked around Los Angeles for a home, I found that an identical home to one in the Valley could be had for $10,000 less in Thousand Oaks some 20 or 30 miles further out. Which is why the Ventura Freeway is a parking lot on many mornings. Fancy those inconsiderate people causing pollution and accidents with all that driving. How dare they! I have already related my experience during my first year in Toronto. Hurricane Hazel arrived with a vengeance and killed 72 people. People lived along the Humber river even though they expected to be flooded practically every spring. It was worth it because it was affordable, while being relatively close to street cars and to their jobs in the city. Hurricane Hazel was not a spring flood. Of course, if you had the money you wouldn't live on the banks of the Humber and you could certainly criticize the people who did live there. By golly, they deserve what they get! There are probably two kinds of people who live in the foothills and in the forests of Southern California. There are the people forced to live there because it's cheaper. There also the people who just love to live in a forest or on a mountain top. I would think the great majority of these people have their homes fully insured against fire. Contrary to one person's opinion on this list, it costs them higher premiums if they live in a high-risk area. Also they are required to clear brush around their houses. (If they don't do it, the local authority will do it and charge them for the job.) However, fires are not all that frequent and mostly occur in areas well with away from settlement. Nevertheless, some 20 years ago, both sides of our Canyon were ablaze. I arrived home from making a speech on the coast well after 11 o'clock (I talk a lot). They wouldn't let me drive up to my house. Harry Jr. had taken to a safe house. Alan was in the house alone. So, we made a pot of tea. The English can't fight a fire unless they've had their Murchie's tea. Harry came back, had his tea, and joined us on the roof. He told me that on his way up the Canyon in a pine tree by the side of the road was furiously aflame. So much so, that he had to creep by on the other side of the road. He can imagine what it was like to have a whole forest burning. So we kept the roof wetted down as the fire raged around us. Eventually, it moved on and we went to bed. We were awakened at about 4 am by the telephone. Harry had stored some furniture in a friend's garage in Glendale. Now, the fire had reached them and the garage was in danger. The boys went down there and loaded the station wagon. We went back to sleep again. For some reason, I woke up, looked out and got up the boys. The fire had swung back and was close. About 50 yards away, a stand of bamboo was burning like a Roman candle. So (after tea) we were back on the roof with our hoses. The Chaparral has now been growing on the hillsides for 20 years. Five acres of grease filled chaparral apparently has the energy of an Hiroshima bomb. So why do we live there? Originally, I came here because it was cheap. Now, I wouldn't leave unless we were burned out. It is as pleasant as you can get to live in a Canyon in the foothills. Oaks, sycamores, and others trees are everywhere. Bunches of deer wander down the road and munch on the hillsides. All kinds of other animals, birds, and insects, are there to enjoy and sometimes to curse. We paid for the firefighting with our taxes. We pay higher premiums if we are in a risk area. Just as I'm sure the homeowners in hurricane zones, or Tornado Alley's, or earthquake and flood areas, pay more -- in taxes and for insurance. However, the government is involved in fighting fires so you can expect problems. The story was printed yesterday of a truck unloading four firefighters and a hose at the fire hydrant. The men didn't even have a fire engine. This was in San Diego, where the fire uncovered all kinds of inefficiencies, lack of equipment, and such like. The Cedar fire which came close to my daughter could perhaps have been stopped very quickly, instead of burning an enormous area, hundreds of houses, and losing a number of lives. The Air Force had some bombers available which could deliver water to the fire. However, the rules said the state couldn't use them (you know, Arthur, those rules you like). Like the Mills of God, government action tends to be exceeding slow. The Air Force bombers didn't arrive for several days. By then, my daughter was crying to me on the phone that she expected the fire to wipe out the house. A further point concerns the ravages of the bark beetle. You may have noticed in pictures of the fire that there were often three gray trees to a green tree. The gray trees had been killed by the bark beetle infestation. They were like tinder, great fuel for a forest fire. Logging companies had offered to take out the dead trees, but the Feds were haggling over the terms. Months went by -- maybe years -- while those dead trees remained a high-risk. Not much left now to haggle about. Final point about the loans and grants offered by the federal government. When the Great Provider in the sky comes down to earth and offers you 1% loans, or quarter percent loans, or free grants, it makes a lot of sense to take them. After the earthquake is several years ago, the money handed out by FEMA became a local scandal, though I don't think anything was done about it. At that time, they didn't even asked for identification from those in the line. So, entrepreneurs from outside the earthquake area collected big. Perhaps it will be different this time. But, these government employees will not be handing out their own money, but money from the Great Provider. This is likely to make them pretty liberal in the handouts. We'll see. Harry -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, October 27, 2003 6:39 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [Futurework] E.European Women discover the Joys of Free Trade I guess free traders are glad that the zoning laws are so weak or non-existent in So. Calif that people can build anywhere. But these same freedom loving free traders are the first to call on firefighters for help when they find that the tinder box areas in which they live go up in smoke. After that they ask to name the place a "disaster area" so they can get low cost loans, or heavens, outright grants. From guess where: Government. Paid by taxpayers. Arthur _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
