A lot of folks can't understand how we came to have an oil shortage here in our country.

Well, there's a very simple answer.

Nobody bothered to check the oil.

We just didn't know we were getting low

The reason for that is purely geographical.

Our OIL is located in

ALASKA

California

Coastal Florida

Coastal Louisiana

Kansas

Oklahoma

 Pennsylvania and Texas

 Our DIPSTICKS are located in Washington , DC !!!! Any Questions?

TOKYO (Reuters) -
Japanese prisoners dislike their unstylish pajamas, feel their cells are too small and want better meals, a government survey has found. In a survey of inmates who left prison in the year to March, almost 70 percent of respondents who shared cells with others said they had too little space, while 44 percent of those in solitary confinement said their cells were too small, the justice ministry said in a report issued Wednesday.
Over half said their meals were bad and having supper at 5 p.m. was too early, while almost 75 percent wished for more bread with their meals rather than rice or noodles.The former inmates also found their vertically striped grayish pajamas to be unfashionable. Close to half said the colors were bad, and 44 percent said the design was ugly.About 81,300 of Japan's 127 million people were in prison as of December 31 last year, according to government data.A United Nations committee said earlier this year that Japanese prisons were overcrowded and lacked adequate medical care.Makoto Teranaka, secretary general of Amnesty International Japan, said the prisons are overcrowded because sentences have grown longer in recent years."Because prisons are a closed society, there are great human rights violations going on," he said. "It's necessary to take drastic measures based on human rights to change the conditions in prisons."

The Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District said Friday that it decided to waive the $4.78 it charged Brian Bandhauer for not paying his irrigation bill on time. But the district had already accepted payment of the fees Thursday from local blogger David Frazier. "Sounds to me like they're trying to turn back time and make it seem like it didn't happen," Bandhauer said Friday. Bandhauer never received an irrigation district bill the first year he lived in his home. The bill was sent to the wrong address. When he learned he owed the district, he sent in the payment for the last two years of assessments. But the check was returned to him because he didn't include payment for late fees, penalties and interest totaling $4.78, which he didn't believe he owed. He said he didn't know the irrigation district had put a lien on his property until a Statesman reporter told him Wednesday. Bandhauer said a number of people told him they tried to pay the $4.78 bill for him and were turned away. The irrigation district relented with Frazier, who paid in cash and was given receipt No. 0097. "I thought it was a childish situation and needed an immediate resolution," Frazier said. In a press release issued late Friday, the irrigation district said it "does not 'slap' or 'take out' liens on the property of any landowner." Idaho law says that irrigation district assessments are liens on real property until the taxes are paid, the district said. Not all irrigation districts choose to enforce that law. The Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District does not notify homeowners of liens against property until the accounts are three years delinquent, at which time the district can take possession of the homes and sell them. The irrigation district said in a press release that it typically has about 2,000 delinquencies. The majority of these are resolved, the district said, and only about one property within the district is sold at auction each year. Currently, the irrigation district has liens against 2,200 properties, 39 of which are in danger of being seized next month unless owners pay their back taxes soon. According to the district's press release, Bandhauer's property has been in the irrigation district since 1904. In 2000, the land was subdivided. "The title company involved in Mr. Bandhauer's purchase of the property paid the 2004 delinquency and 2005 assessment within a week after Mr. Bandhauer purchased the property, which makes Mr. Bandhauer's ignorance of the assessment all the more perplexing," the press release said. Bandhauer said he didn't know he was in an irrigation district because he doesn't have access to irrigation water, and because the bill went to the wrong address the first year he lived in the home. After an investigation into Bandhauer's mistaken address, the irrigation district said it found an error in Bandhauer's deed. The district said it suggested Bandhauer ask his title company to reimburse him for the $4.78. Property owners can find an explanation of assessments and delinquencies in assessment notices, newsletters and on the irrigation district's Web site, www.nmid.org, the district said.

 

 

The following statement was issued today – Dec. 21, 2007 – by the Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District.

The Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District Board of Directors has reviewed the case of Mr. Brian Bandhauer, the Meridian property owner who has protested the $4.78 in fees associated with his delinquency on District tax assessments for 2006. In order to avoid further controversy and confusion resulting from the Idaho Statesman’s reporting on this matter, the District will waive the late charges so that Mr. Bandhauer's property may be removed from the list of irrigation district tax delinquencies.



But you don't see any change in there policy's
I think it just shows sometimes people will run for cover when a light is shown on them

I know I don't talk enough on here  but this one is such shit. It just goes to show how arrogant the government is and how some ppl get a little power and goes to there head. I mean I think someone in the irrigation office should lose there job by now  but no they will spend thousands of taxpayers dollars to Chase a nickel.Well then you have to remember it's not there money and they don't have to be accountably for it. It would be funny if some of these ppl had to account for there time and what did it make its this funny thing called man hours of production. Everywhere but our government .

 

Homeowner's bill was sent to wrong address. District has slapped a lien on his property

Check your property records. An overdue irrigation district bill - even one you never received - could cost you a lien on your home or worse. Meridian resident Brian Bandhauer found that out the hard way and is now locked in a battle over $4.78 and a matter of principle. If he were to keep up the fight for another two years, he could lose his home.Bandhauer lives in the Nampa and Meridian Irrigation District, though he says he didn't know it until he got a bill this year for two years of irrigation fees plus a late fee, penalty and interest. Both Bandhauer and irrigation district officials agree that for the first year Bandhauer lived in his home, his irrigation bill was being sent to the wrong address due to an error on the home's deed. Everyone involved also agrees Bandhauer's missed payment wasn't his fault. "There's no reason in the world I should have to pay penalties, fees and interest for something that wasn't my fault," Bandhauer said. That's where he and the irrigation district both stand on principle, but with very different conclusions. It's the responsibility of a homeowner to know that they're in an irrigation district, and it's up to homeowners to pay their bills, even if they never get a bill, said Daren Coon, secretary-treasurer for the Nampa and Meridian Irrigation District. So when Bandhauer sent the irrigation district a check for his last two years of assessments - minus the late fee, penalty and interest - Coon returned the check, insisting he pay it all. "They should know as a responsible property owner that they did not pay the tax," said Coon, who suggested Bandhauer take it up with his title company. What Bandhauer didn't know until a Statesman reporter told him Wednesday was that in the meantime the district has slapped a lien on his house, for $17.87 in 2006 assessments and the $4.78 in late charges. "Oh, that's just evil," Banhauer said. A lien is leverage the district uses to get its back taxes, but the lien also puts a cloud over a mortgage, making it difficult to sell a home. Coon said the district doesn't notify homeowners of liens until they are three years delinquent, at which time the district can take possession of homes and sell them. That power is codified in Idaho law. Though it's rare, the district has seized and sold property - most recently a house in West Boise in August, Coon said. The minimum bid on homes sold by the district is enough to cover the costs of recouping unpaid taxes, and the West Boise home sold for a whopping $3,010. Currently, there are 39 properties within the district in danger of being seized next month unless owners pay their back taxes soon. The Nampa and Meridian Irrigation District covers more than 36,000 property owners in Canyon and Ada counties, providing water for farmland, lawns and gardens. Out of those, the district puts liens on only a couple hundred properties each year, and only a handful of homes are threatened with seizure, Coon said. Coon has the power to get rid of Bandhauer's late fees, but he said he doesn't feel the situation represents the extenuating circumstances he needs to take such action. Waiving the fees would be unfair to those who pay their taxes on time. "He keeps focusing on I can just waive it, I can just waive it," Coon said. "Well, no, it's not that simple. I can't just give away taxpayer money." And the kicker for Bandhauer: He says he doesn't even have access to the irrigation water for which he's being charged. "If I had irrigation, I would have thought, 'Gosh, I probably owe irrigation,' " he said. "I had no idea."Bandhauer's voice was hushed after hearing he had a lien against his home. The electrical engineer has a wife and two children, and he said he can only go so far to make his point. "I'm going to fight as long as I can," he said.