WINDOW TAX

Some of today’s topics unusually interesting.

The first involves Great Britain, the United Kingdom, England, or whatever it was called at a particular time in history.

The Brits were always taxing people and things. They cared not what nor for those being taxed. Only to collect money for the royal coffers.

That is why there was a Boston Tea Party, a need for a Robin Hood, and more.

Today’s subject the Window Tax. The Brits were known as the United Kingdom at the time. A Window Tax was imposed in 1699 and remained in place till 1851.

The Window Tax also referred to as a “bandl tax.”

Windows on a house were taxed. The more windows, the higher the tax paid by the owner.

Necessity became the mother of invention. Everyone wants to pay as little in taxes as possible. Tax avoidance came into play big time.

Homes were built with fewer windows. Older homes had some windows bricked over. The poorer homes covered all the windows.

“Dark and gloomy” became the order of the day. The more blocked windows, the less the light entering from the outside.

As the years progressed, poor and rich alike clamored for a repeal of the tax. It was considered a “tax on health” and a “tax on light and air.” The tax encouraged disease and ill health.

It took 152 years, but the people finally won out when in 1851 the Window Tax was withdrawn.

This past thursday, Trump bare naked his intelligence level. His thought process convoluted.

Trump was speaking at Owens and Minor, a medical supply distributor, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He said, “When you test, you have a case. When you test, you find something is wrong with people. If we didn’t do any testing, we would have very few cases.”

Brilliant!

Dr. Joseph Fair is known to most of us. He appears frequently on NBC and MSNBC. He is one of their medical consultants.

Dr. Fair is a virologist and epidemiologist which makes him an expert in the study of the coronavirus problem.

He flew to New Orleans last week. The plane was crowded. “Packed” as he described it. The thought occurred to him to get off. However, he did not.

He wore a face mask, gloves, and wiped his area with disinfectant.

Turns out he should have worn googles. So Dr. Fair thinks today.

Three days after the trip, he started feeling lousy. Remained home. Over the course of a few days, breathing became difficult. He could only get 25 percent of his breath into his lungs.

He was off to the hospital. They gave him 4 coronavirus tests. All negative. It took #5 to come up with a positive finding. He was definitely sick.

Dr. Fair believes the virus got into his body through his eyes. Recent studies indicate mere talking can generate droplets that can linger up to 14 minutes.

Goggles would have prevented his coming down with the virus.

Dr. Fair claims he was not at high risk for the problem. Forty years old and in good health. Runs every day. Has no underlying maladies. He said he was in the best condition he has ever been.

Which brought to his mind he probably would have died were he older and not in such good condition.

Dr. Fair remains in the hospital, no longer in critical condition.

Certain prostitutes earn big money.

Some governments tax a prostitute’s earnings. Germany has been doing so for more than 10 years. Germany legalized prostitution so it could tax the ladies.

Other European nations tax prostitutes also. Great Britain is one.

Linda St. Clair began working the streets as a teenager. At a point later in life, she became one of Britain’s leading ladies of the night. Her professional name Miss Whiplash. She was both a prostitute and dominatrix.

Linda owned and operated one of the largest whore houses in London. High class. Some 250 members of Parliament among her customers.

She drove a Rolls Royce.

The British government decided to tax her. She refused to pay. She said if she were to pay, the government would be living off “immoral earnings.” Such was her legal position.

The government said morality had nothing to do with it. The government considered her earnings derived from a “trade.”

Linda fought the tax collector successfully for 15 years. The government never gave up, however. When she saw she would not be able to win, she sold everything. Took her monies and went on a world cruise. Excuse the vernacular, she “pissed” her money away in all the fun spots of the world.

When the government finally got her and had a huge judgment against her, she was judgment proof. Penniless.

Some Trump.

One of the commentors to my blog recently wrote Trump was no “warrior” as he was claiming. He pointed out Trump dodged the draft and mocked a prisoner of war.

The gulf between Trump and scientists regarding coronavirus grows. Trump even finding fault with Fauci.

What did Trump think would happen when his thoughts and those of the scientists were at opposite ends of the spectrum. He obviously expected dedicated professionals to lie.

Trump is learning there are some honest people in the world. Not all are cut from the same bolt of cloth as he.

Coronavirus data as of 5/14 interesting. Actually, surprising.

The data shows trends are significantly rising in the U.S. if the numbers for 3 cities are pulled. New York, New Orleans, and Detroit.

Not a good sign. Indicates things getting worse, not better.

A 6.4 earthquake hit Nevada during the night. Several large aftershocks followed. The quake line near the California border.

Someday again California may experience another of its drastic earthquakes. I recall my good friend Bob Marks being involved in one. So strong, it took down a major bridge in San Francisco. Bob could not get home for 3 days because the bridge was gone.

Some Key West happenings.

Publix cut back on open hours because of the virus. Publix announced that as of tomorrow, it is returning to normal shopping hours. The stores will be open from 7 am to 9 pm.

The virus opened many eyes in Key West as to the pollution the cruise ships were causing. Key West waters have become clear since the cruise lines were shut down.

The cruise ships will return. Many do not want them. I for one do not.

Key West is at the bottom of the list re payments from the cruise lines being permitted to dock here. The cheaper cruise lines bring passengers to Key West. Not the affluent who spend money. Passengers in recent years spend a day walking around and having a drink or 2 at a bar. They skip back to the ship for lunch. Do not spend money on food or anything of value.

And of course the ships themselves pollute our waters and reef big time.

They are not worth it.

The Key West Committee For Safer Cleaner Ships has been formed by some locals. They have opened an office on Caroline street.

They are anti-cruise ships.

The issue is being put to referendum in August. The actual wording not yet formulated. It will either be to limit the number or eliminate cruise ship visits in their entirety.

John Simonton was the first American to own the Island of Key West as it was then known. Simonton died this day in 1854 in Washington, D.C.

The news is the Cow Key Channel Bridge reconstruction is on schedule. I have not seen it. I live one island off Key West. The bridge the only way in and out of Key West. I crossed it twice daily.

Since I am in my 65th day of self-quarantine, I have not seen any of the reconstruction work being done.

I wish they were ahead of schedule. With the virus impacting us, there was substantially less traffic and the contractor should be ahead of schedule. The virus would have turned out to be a benefit in disguise. Unfortunately, the State of Florida does not think that way.

The stone crab business has been taking a beating the past several years. The State now wants to add to the stone crab fishermen’s plight.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has issued a draft to be voted on in July. It proposes to close the stone crab season by 5 months. It also proposes to reduce the minimum size of stone crabs that can be caught.

The 5 months I cannot understand. The reduction in size I can. Only 1/8th of an inch.

Enjoy your day!

 

4 comments on “WINDOW TAX

  1. Taxes are a necessity of organized life, you want collective benefits (roads, law and order, etc.) you have to pay for it. Excessive taxation however needs to be controlled.

    Before there was reliable income or property values, different types of methods were employed. Your reference to window taxes is just that. Another one in the 17th and 18th century was hearth taxes. The more fireplaces, the higher taxes. Another, at least in New Orleans in the 19th and early 20th centuries, was based on the width (frontage) of your house.

  2. Another one, supposedly, was closet taxes. There is a popular myth that says closets were rare in the 18th century because they were taxed as rooms. And it is true that people in those days tended to use armoires instead of closets to store clothes. But there is no historical record of a closet tax.

  3. Basically Trump is saying to screw all of that sciency stuff that he doesn’t understand anyway, open everything up, and let the chips fall where they may. Some will fall to the bug, but most will live and move on, just like a herd of gnus moving across an African plain while some are getting eaten off by the lions along the way.

  4. It looks like Trump wants everybody to get sick as soon as possible and either croak or get back to work.

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *