Well, even though it may be harsh, I do think Motown has a good point.
Sometimes you have no choice, however much it sux.

If really not possible to move you have to get creative I suppose.
Is there work you can do?
If you have your own home since you speak of mortgage, can you maybe let a room.
Aren't there any subsidies you're entitled to that can help out?

Just think out of the box. You can be PO which I totally understand, but that won't help nor get rid of this mayor.

I do feel for you and all the others in NYC in similar situations. I too have a very small budget so getting something like that rammed down your throat is more than tough. I wouldn't have the means to deal with it either.

What I do not understand how someone can just do that. Over here we have nation-wide laws. Cities/towns have a little leeway with certain things, but not with raising taxes etc.

Wishing you good luck!!

Whenever I watch Brit series it's usually British crime series.
And the series Strike Back is absolutely awesome! Esp. seasons 2 through 5 with Scott & Stonebridge characters.
The seasons after that were cr@p, as far as I'm concerned.

Generally speaking Brit crime series are really well done. I've seen some great series, one was set in Wales, but cannot recall the title.
I regularly search for new British releases in that genre.

As for the humour, I love it! But I rarely watch comedy shows. But comedian Michael McIntyre is great!
As for BrE versus AmE... I can sometimes better understand BrE than AmE.
Not when AmE is normally pronounced, but sometimes when they're more from southern states and/or speech is like mumbling I can have difficulty with it, in spite of being quite fluent in English.
Then again, more rural BrE dialects -often from northern parts of the UK) are way beyond my wheelhouse too, haha.

As for German... not my lingo. I never liked it, never was able to properly master it.
I do find it a great language for certain things, like Rammstein songs. Some of their songs they did in English too, but then they lose their power for some reason.
German is truly a powerful language, just not one I like. I can speak it a wee bit but if a German starts replying I tend to be lost, haha.

Anywho... I'm still watching Mantracker via Tubi.
Since that's on autoplay for some reason it just continues so I've seen some episodes twice now, haha.
But I am knitting while I watch series or movies and sometimes I have to look at what I'm doing so I miss some stuff here and there.
Because I've seen some episodes twice I've also seen scenes I had missed the first time round.

I've also seen that one episode in which they search for a new mantracker. What a joke!
Why put all that effort and money into that, hoping to continue the show, and not give Terry Grant what he wanted? Might have been a helluva lot cheaper and they still would've had a great show for at least a few more years.
And the bloke they went for in the end, one look at him and I already knew he couldn't carry the show.
There was one who maybe could've pulled it off, Kiff or Tiff or something, but some people are irreplaceable. One of a kind. Terry Grant is one of those.
Like you cannot do a new Star Trek Next Generation and simply put another man in to play Picard. Just doesn't work.


Anyhow, it definitely was a great show! Excellent format and they happened to find the perfect man for it.

I have also searched for AUS shows. Can't recall any titles but I did find some interesting stuff.
I think one of the most popular AUS shows was Police Rescue in the 90s.

I also regularly look for Brit shows as these are always high quality.

I also missed out on shows in the mid to end 80s due to being abroad. I lived in Jakarta for over a year and at the time you didn't get many western shows on telly. If there were any they were ancient.
I also lived in AUS for half a year but didn't have any tv or radio reception as signal was blocked by Uluru.

I have to say that experience has brought me so much, taught me a lot about myself. I was on my own, no media to rely on, and in a foreign country. I got very creative and good at making life meaningful for myself without telly and radio.
No one to talk to in my own language so I had to turbo-update my school English, haha.
At work someone asked me if I could get a loaf out of the freezer.
I said, "Sure, if you tell me what a loaf is!" hihi.

But I tell you, it was the best time of my life. And since you travelled too you probably also experienced that some places really do something with you.
Uluru is that place for me. It's like a lost love, very fond memories of my time there, all the great people I met, but that place... it's a deep love and in a way not being there is a hurt that never goes away.

Feeling good, positive :) Sipping first cup of coffee, the sun is shining, making it nice and warm. No heating needed :)

A shame. It does become more and more difficult to find good stuff to watch.
I loved Expedition Bigfoot but there doesn't seem to be another season anymore. Probably too expensive.
I don't believe Ray Mears still makes his documentaries, Mantracker gone and so on.

I think Canadians make good telly? I've watched some of their shows, although cannot remember them all.
One that I liked particularly was Flashpoint.

I've had a relationship that began with an instant spark. That didn't have anything to do with lust but with a deep feeling of Soul recognition, a sense of having known each other before, deep love, belonging.
It was the most romantic thing I've ever experienced in my life!
Fact it ended wasn't related to the fact it began with love at first sight, or an instant spark.

But even if there is a very strong sexual attraction, that too can be a great binder for a lasting relationship, provided there is more to it than mere sex.

Hmmm... but talking about a good person from Syria or a hard working person from wherever wasn't what the conversation was about.
I don't think anyone said they're all bad people.
Totally not the point at all.

Even with Ukrainians it's problematic and most of them are great and they fit into our culture much easier.
But there are almost 38 million Ukrainians. It's physically impossible to fit even a quarter of them into The Netherlands.
That's pure space, or lack thereof since we're already very densely populated, then there's the cultural & language barrier that does exist, and the enormous cost of their keep.
Aside from that they all need a house and a job. There aren't enough houses for Dutch people, has been a problem for years, and jobs isn't all that easy either.
And you lose your own identity, culture, wellfare systems, safety in your own country, it's at the expense of good education and healthcare and so on.

Diversification is good, but you can go too fast. It should be by people that add something to a country and system. Certain qualifications that are needed for instance. Then you get slower diversification and generally better adjustment of people as well.
This is 'emigration'. Always a carefully controlled system to prevent above mentioned scenarios, and oftentimes still too fast.
As it is it's millions who take from the system & country.

I believe the first rule of First Aid applies: first take care of yourself and keep yourself safe. Otherwise don't help so we don't end up with 2 victims.
We've past that point decades ago.


Personally I find it naive to think western countries can simply accommodate the millions of people in poor countries and/or warzones.
Do the math. It's impossible.
And... it doesn't solve anything whatsoever since nothing is being resolved in the countries of origin.
Taking in all these people isn't the answer.

^^^^^^^ Very well said, totally accurate.
As long as you haven't met it's a figment of your imagination.
NOthing wrong with that as long as you're aware that it's not real and based on nothing.
As soon as you start to think it is you're shooting yourself in the foot.

Nope, I love the UK but I'm a Dutchie.

Roku... I think I have tried that in the past but never worked for me. Not certain but I believe it required sign up and I'm not keen on that.
Tubi does work provided I use a US IP via VPN. I like watching the episodes there as they're good quality :)

I got it to work on Tubi alright, but with VPN. My country is not being served by them, haha (The Netherlands).

What bleak a belief!
Thank goodness wildflowers are very resilient :)
They don't just wither but keep flowering and flowering and flowering.

They do of course need healthy soil ( = foundation) and nourishment ( = Tender Loving Care).
And they cannot be GM, they've got to be authentic and healthy, then they'll last.

Feeling... hungry! But I got to wait a little bit longer. Too early to have dinner.
Half an hour will do it. Sipping coffee for now :)

No idea, I generally don't follow US politics.
But from how you write, what you say, it is clear you're an extremist. I don't like extremists regardless what they stand for or what colour of skin or which religion and/or political beliefs.
One can have very strong preference and beliefs but with extremism it comes hand in hand with hate and tunnel vision. Such people are beyond reason.
I'm not keen on that.

Oh wow, thank you!
I'll try to watch them on there if I can get Tubi to work. Should do with VPN set to a US server.

Thinking... gotta open the 2 catdoors in the garden before I get into the shower.

The catdoors are openings at the bottom of the fencing that I close off at night and open up again during the day. Small openings, large enough for cats though :)
Helps to keep neighbour cats out of my garden.

All this stuff has been going on for decades, but at different levels and with different things.
When I was 19ish I had a temp job at a gov agency that did child support and pensioners wages.
Clients could come by during certain hours with questions etc. and my manager usually did that. The man had become a nervous wreck because of the flak that was thrown at him at daily basis, generally not by the Dutch but by people from Muslim countries.
Talking 1984-1985 here!
It regularly happened that a man claimed to have 15 or 18 children back in his home country so he got child support for all of them (!!!).
This money was sent to the bank in said country, the bank sent it back as they didn't even know that man, our government sent it back again as the man was entitled to the money, bank sent it back again, and so forth and so on.

I was still young, didn't judge, felt for people etc. etc. but that job made clear how we were being abused and sucked dry.
And even that wasn't new as the whole refuge thing began somewhere after WW2 if not mistaken.

In the early 70s I saw women in typical Muslim outfits for the first time. I was some 9 years old back then, was kind of shocking. These were Yugoslavian people btw.

It just goes on and on, a never ending story.
And I get it if people truly need refuge, but there are millions more in similar countries. It's impossible to fit them all into Western EU countries and cover all their expenses.
There wouldn't be anyone left in those countries and we would all go bankrupt, lose our entire Western way of living and culture and what you correctly said that many men & women fought for, and so on.
No more well-fare, decent schooling, healthcare and so on.

You know, I've never been scared. The backwater area I live in was always safe, few refugees and so on. But that is rapidly changing.
And I read last week about girls in my area being pulled of their bicycles at night by foreign men with knives, she got threatened and so on.
Knowing that this stuff now happens over here as well has affected me.
I had to cycle to the supermarket just after 5 today, meaning it's as good as dark this time a year. I didn't feel comfortable while that was never even on my mind.
In Amsterdam or Rotterdam, yes, not here.
Unfortunately that time is over.

And I'm not a racist or fascist. It's just too much and has been going on for too long (half a century at least).

Interesting! I may look into those shows.
So far I haven't been able to find season 6 episodes of Mantracker which is odd.
You'd expect the latest season to be the easiest available. But who knows, I may still find it.

Watching an episode every now and then is probably a good idea. Keeps it fresh.

Hi MsAva!

OT ---- feeling very sleepy. Time to brush teeth and crawl under the duvet :)

Thank you so much for your contribution, Cyrax!
As always very eloquent, extremely well substantiated and showing a lot of insight.
I greatly appreciate it!

And especially this what you said, which is exactly what's at the heart of it all!
And guess what, this change isn't for the favor of the Western values and civil rights that women and men fought decades to achieve!

It has nothing whatsoever to do with fascism nor racism.
(People these days are so quick to accuse you of the latter as well.)

Again, thank you! Reading it in other words from another person's view, a man at that, might shed some better light at what I meant :)

Feeling okay.

Sun is shining which is great :)