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Rocks: Grand Forks & Rossland
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Found
- Hits: 1058
A couple of finds - the first (on the right) - a quartz crystal, colored by (?) and filled in like a pseudomorph. Found it in a pawn shop in Grand Forks, part of a collection of rocks - the color and the rest of the collection make me suspect it was found locally by a collector. And, on the left, a large green quartz crystal - found in a thrift shop in Rossland for a $1.00 - again, the color, the condition, suggest to me it was picked up locally and probably by someone who didn't think to dig any deeper...
Anyways, both reminders of the treasures I should be keeping my eyes peeled for come spring...
Meteorite sells for $2,000,000
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Found
- Hits: 993
Meteorite crashes through mans roof in Indonesia, man sells meteorite to rich American. Loved the "33-year-old coffin-maker ‘turned out to be a canny negotiator’, says US buyer of space debris"
Link: Man becomes millionaire after meteorite falls through his roof | The Independent
The Housing Crisis
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 1103
You see it crop up on Facebook - "The Kootenay Housing Crisis", by which they mean there's a shortage of affordable housing for local residents.
This is, of course, complete and utter bullshit. Not the housing crisis, this is real, I've lived out 5 years now, or close enough to, and there is a dearth of available and affordable housing. And what's available is often misrepresented - what initially seems like a good deal is complicated by heating bills - out here that's a big expense, or driving (a must), or a dozen other unanticipated expenses that invariably end up being appended to your rent and cost of living.
But the term "Housing Crisis" - whether it be here or elsewhere - is too often applied to mean that there's a shortage of housing, when the fact of the matter is that there's a failure of governance to create and enforce policies and law that would ensure everyone had access to housing. Policies that would - for example - state that any property that sits vacant is subject to a substantially higher rates of tax than a property that is occupied. Policies that would tax secondary properties at substantially higher rates than primary properties - the fact remains that house prices are largely inflated due to speculation and foreign/absentee owners. And policies that would see properties that sit vacant for extended periods of time (say, for the sake of argument - 3 years) - whether it be because they're for sale or other reasons - can be seized and auctioned by the city or province.
Property - like too many other things - should not be a commodity that can be bought/sold/traded at a profit - it should be used and preserved. We have no problems suing landowners who contaminate their properties with toxic chemicals, we have laws preventing the building of unsafe structures, laws can as well be implemented that ensure everyone has equal opportunities to housing.
Other solutions worth considering: Do away with property ownership entirely, all property is "on lease" from the federal government, much like they do in National Parks. In theory, everyone should be able to afford housing FOR THEIR LIFETIME. Make property uninheritable - you can pass down your principle living residence upon your death, but all secondary residences are auctioned by the government. PROHIBIT FOREIGN OWNERSHIP (This is a no-brainer!) There are more, I'm sure, these are just a few that spring to mind.
Homeless in a Pandemic...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
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This, by the way, is not something I'd recommend. And I have wheels.
First, all the live-long day you're trying to get in out of the cold, find someplace warm, charge your phone, computer, what have you. You're paying rent at the cafe's and grateful that the lockdowns haven't gone any further. The shower options - at the rec center - are unavailable, so the whole "get a good-life membership" to clean up is off the table. And the washrooms in the mall - well, there's always a line, and you don't dare take the time to shave or clean up.
Rent, paid instead of to a landlord, is payed in gas, restaurants, cafe's, cigarettes and Vodka because the sun goes down early, and who can sleep from 4:00 PM until 7:00 AM the next day? Vodka, it helps. And this rent, it's winds up costing more than rent paid to landlords - substantially, even out here, and as your finances erode your chances of finding a place or work diminish. It becomes a spiral.
Homelessness was never a great option, but this Pandemic, it's made it impossible.
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