OMG. I am an honest small contractor and those items you list are appalling. I’ve often had to redo work from people with more elaborate licenses than I have. That is, I don’t have a plumbers license, but I have to repair work done by licensed plumbers now and then. Most plumbers are quite good, don’t get me wrong.

But people pretending to know more than they do is a problem.

I sympathize with your general sentiments somewhat. The hard part for me is I did some small crime when I was about 20 and 21 years old. I finally realized the incredible wrongness of what I was doing and stopped. I have guilt feelings from that that I’ll probably never let go of.

I have been clean ever since. So I think it is possible for people to reform, I know that I did. These days I do remodeling and maintenance. Numerous people with really nice houses have employed me for years because they know that I will not take anything. Well, that, and my work is just so damn good. Winky-wink.

But it is a quandary. The earth is indeed seriously overpopulated. When I used to watch MSNBC they would have prison lockup shows on weekends. Some of the people wanted to do better, to reform themselves. Others seemingly could not care less.

Pretty sure that summary execution would not work out well all in all.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

The entire population of the planet can fit in Texas. Its not as over populated as its sold. But I digress. Carry on.

I think prisons are expensive places that do little to make those incarcerated be better people.

Once a person enters adulthood, crime that harms someone else should not be acceptable. For minor crime warn them. No prison time, just jail while waiting for trial and warning with shaming. After so many warnings, then death.

If you're capable and still not helping others you're not living life the way you should. Help others, it's rewarding.

The world is too crowded. Not enough habitable land, arable land, fresh water, clean oceans, clean air, etc.. for everyone. Bad people make up the majority, it's virtually impossible to find a truly good person anymore.

And if that was the entire resource base available to all those people mass starvation would ensue in short order.

The world’s population in Texas would result in a population density of 1200 per square mile. Have you seen some of those square miles in Texas? I once hopped a freight from San Antonio to Yuma, AZ. I saw about half of Texas through an open box car door. There were vast areas that would barely support cattle grazing. Here are the top four US states in population density. All of those states have a lot more water than Texas.

New Jersey (1,206 people per square mile)
Rhode Island (1,028 people per square mile)
Massachusetts (887 people per square mile)
Connecticut (732 people per square mile)

The John birch society used to float that nonsense about putting the worlds population in one state.

The horrible fact is, a large part of our nation is subsisting on ever diminishing water from the Oglala aquifer. It will not be charged up again until the next ice age. Or rather the thaw from that. Fisheries of the world are being beat up more and more by starving people trying to avoid starvation.

There is a lot I like about our species. I could go on at length about why.

Unfortunately, we are not that much different from rabbits when it comes to the need for food, water, and a place to poop.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Bad people do not make up the majority.

It is not impossible to find good people, it is just that the news media and political people constantly talk about what is bad. Just because they talk about it 90% of the time does not translate to 90% of us are bad.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Agreed

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Guys ;


Please don't interrupt when a fellow is lying through his teeth ~

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Fitting in and living in differ. I only stated they would fit. With 1000 square feet per.

Point is theres a lot of room on this planet.

It is a useless fact though.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

If you include bodies of water as living space, then we have a ton of room!

Spent close to 30 of the last years in north Texas. Before that Minnesota for 22 years.

When I left Minnesota I had about 45 men and a few women I considered totally trustworthy and fun to be with. They were all good hard working people. A shoe cobbler, newspaper editor, cooks, lawyers, engineers, 3M geologists, a doctor, banker, receptionists, educators, etc... Totally decent good family people.

I did have a few people that took advantage of me, one a realtor that sold me a rental property he had remodeled. It was a five unit in the old southside area. He moved to Vail after I purchased it. Found the basement apartment had a flag stone floor with cement grout, just installed on the dirt. Found it was a partially burnt building. Instead of sheetrock he stapled cardboard over the charred studs and doors. Made heavy textured walls with mud. Also rear deck and emergency stairs were dryrotted under the new primer and paint. I had known his family for ten years and used him to purchase five other properties. Used to get together for dinners and family celebrations.

That was the exception to the other good people. Most Minnesotan's at that time could trace their family back to more than three generations in the local area.

In north Texas, after about 30 years, I have one friend of the same quality and even he goes off every now and then.

After moving to north Texas, after a couple of years I came up with a saying:
' When you shake hands with someone, you need to watch the other hand because it'll be trying to get into your pocket. '

Going back to law enforcement, because of the very vocal lack of appreciation for law enforcement I'm trying to get a lakefront area where law enforcement and other ' good people that care ' can come to swim and picnic. Don't know if I'll be successful but giving it a try to show that some people do care.

Just this morning I waited 1-1/2 hours for a backhoe guy to show up and move a few big rocks. I called, no answer. Sent text messages, no reply. That's normal. Another fellow I know is having interior doors replaced, the contractor installed the first door with 17 screws visible in the jamb - not even countersunk.

That's typical in the north Texas rural area where there is ' no inspections available ' from the local government. Construction in this area is the pathway before and after prison or a new career for illegal border crossers.

Another rant of mine is the few veterans I know that are on disability were injured out of their time in the service. But they still submitted claims and were approved for a monthly payment. Only one of the four I know really deserves it. One used his mother, a nurse to get her doctor to writeup his claim. He was our neighbor for several years and actually told us how we could get a claim approved that was similar to his. I calculated that during his lifetime and having five kids, he'll bring in over a million dollars of benefits due to his monthly payment, Texas college for kids, minimal property tax, etc..

Another, a childhood friend, had severe hearing loss after years of being a drummer in a band that played very loud music at joints in Oklahoma. In the military he worked in the motor pool. I was told, even at the VA, to submit a claim for hearing loss. I didn't because I knew my air defense computer job in the Air Force didn't contribute to any hearing loss. I lost it due to a stupid guy shooting a 3030 about a foot from my ear, plus burst eardrum from a hard water ski fall.

In Goldsby Oklahoma there is a small building staffed to assist veterans to get disability, the motor pool guy went there and he said they ' coached him ' on how to get a claim approved. Basically told him to say he was near howitzers. If you look at youtube there is all kinds of attorney videos offering assistance.

Veterans and their VA benefits are a hot potato for politicians. Doubt if any change will be made to reduce the false claims of hearing loss, acid reflux, ringing ears, etc.... Very common ailments as one gets older.

If you add up all the ways people can be ' bad ', I think there are very few people that are above 80 percent good.

In sentencing someone for a crime, maybe the judge should request a tally of the good that person has done.

I misspoke, I said the world’s population in Texas would be 1200 people per square mile, should have been the US population in Texas would yield that figure.

You are correct, all the world’s people if dropped into Texas would have about 1000 ft.² each. That’s a square of about 31 feet on each edge.

Tom is correct, the statistic is meaningless. It takes food and water and other nice things to keep people alive. Those things require a lot more than 1000 ft.² per person. Especially in Texas.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K