SoCal Deek

See my post above and you’ll understand how this got so screwed up. If the various levels of government would stick to those basic principles and priorities we wouldn’t be bouncing back and forth with tax policy changes every time the White House changes hands.

We definitely need a class on taxes in this country. Maybe continuing education credit for taxpayers…and/or voters. In general: Federal income tax is supposed to pay for the military to defend us all. State income tax is supposed to pay for education. Sales and property taxes are supposed to pay for police and fire. Those simple principles have been virtually destroyed by our elected officials who knowingly co-mingle funds in the hopes of wooing votes.

I’m typically way more interested in the draft. I have to admit that may be somewhat because last year was a real head scratcher for me with Beane going DL in the first two rounds. This year, in no particular order, it’s got to be CB, WR, OL, RB, and LB. Outliers will be a S and a P. It doesn’t really matter to me which round we’ll see which position. When you’re drafting down as far as the Bills have earned by winning it all becomes a word salad of guys I’ve never even heard of.

There are corners everywhere in design. With few exceptions, no projects have unlimited budgets. The Bills Stadium already has one. The architects will make a hundred decisions every day about what can and cannot be included in the final design. It’s what we’re trained to do. As I’ve mentioned previously on here, Populous is known for producing very contemporary designs. I’m not sure how appropriate that is for suburban WNY and I’m a bit concerned that they’ll produce what we call an ‘object building’ and thus be forced to cut the functional corners that Bills fans would prefer over some iconic structure only visible by the relatively few people who attend home games.

You can’t understand it? Really?

A military base, like a post office, is on federal land and staffed with federal employees. The rest of the country isn’t subsidizing anything. (Not a good example.)

Any chance you’ll sit there quietly while ‘we wait’? Asking for a whole bunch of friends.

Sure! Literally hundreds of thousands of people fought and died so they could continue being racists. Yeah….that sounds right. 🙄

So it’s your theory that a bunch of racist southern white dudes said ‘hey…we hate black people, let’s sail to the other side of the world and get some black people we can abuse’?

Wait…you believe the reason why there’s been slavery for thousands of years of human history was because of racism?

That’s essentially correct. It’s why I mentioned that these repairs are pretty complicated and thus very expensive. After a bit you’re pretty much replacing everything. We occasionally recommend that sort of repair but generally only if the structure is deemed historic. For example, major renovations have been done to both the Rose Bowl and LA Coliseum over the years, but it’s been due to the historic nature of these structures. That happens sometimes for sure. As I said these reports are highly subjective. But that doesn’t negate the cost of the roof and the concourse buildings which will be some of the major costs…so I wouldn’t get too hung up on that theory. The seats themselves are chump change. Let’s wait to see what the new designs look like before passing judgement.

I’m not going to speak to the details of this particular study, but as a guy who authors similar reports, they’re technical in nature but also subjective. It’s not like solving a math equation. It’ll cost something to remodel and preserve Rich stadium. It really all comes down to what do you have when you’re done versus constructing a new facility. For example, you’d have to spend a lot of money to fix the old one and yet still need to build the roof and the larger concourse areas. Add to that the cost and inconvenience of having to relocate during the reconstruction. So at some point you say ‘this isn’t worth the hassle’. I’m going to assume that point is now.

Well I guess we’re done here then. I’m trying to lend you some of my expertise on the subject matter, but I’m not having much luck.

I have no idea where you’re going with any of this. Is there a point you’re trying to make?

No....I try to avoid all the nonsensical, immature back and forth, in the Twittersphere World and instead choose to live my life like a grown up.

Huh? The Florida bill isn’t about hating anyone. It simply states that public school teachers shouldn’t be discussing sexual attraction by anyone for anyone and to anyone with kids under eight years old. That’s it. Nothing more. Sounds darn reasonable to me. If you as a parent want to discuss earlier than eight…go for it!

It doesn’t work that way. Unlike what most lay people think, architects design with a budget in mind. In fact it’s written into their Contract. So if the architect knows the client has chosen a really expensive delivery model, they just design less stadium. Make sense?

I cannot speak to all of the details of how a PLA works in NY but here in California it's widely understood to add between 10 and 20% to the construction cost of a public project. Given the large amount of taxpayer funding, this would not be a good thing on the new stadium. You essentially will be getting less stadium for the same amount of money.

So if I understand you correctly, given the choice between two dead raccoons, you prefer the one who’s policies have resulted in record high inflation, a chaotic southern border, a huge spike in crime, hundreds of thousands of Covid deaths, and a war in Eastern Europe? Good to know.

With all due respect Mr. Weo...of the two of us....which of us is a long-practicing Architect who specializes in large public projects...like stadiums? Me, or you?

There's so much about the 'ol "Trump Tax Cut" complaint that I've never understood. If a person makes $1,000,000 and has their upper rate cut by from 37.5 down to 35% that leaves less than $25,000 in their pocket to spend, invest, or save. Assuming they also pay state, property and an assortment of sales tax...that increased their net from $500,000 to something below $525,000. So? How does that harm anyone else? Your federal taxes don't fund any of the things most leftists are traditionally whining about (teachers, cops, firemen, social security, etc.). Doesn't the high wage earner use the money to buy things that are made and sold by the middle and lower class? And, if instead the high wage earner chooses to save it, or invest it, good for them. Please don't tell me there's an expectation that Nancy, Mitch and Chuck are going to use the extra money to pay down the debt!

I’ll second that! Tax the Rich….my arse!

Good to know. I’m glad there’s someone else on here with that type of significant professional experience. 😉

A reinforced concrete structure is not as easy to retrofit as you might think, especially if the steel is exposed to the elements and begins to rust. At some point it needs to be demolished.

LEGAL immigration…not ILLEGAL immigration. This is not complicated Tibs!!!