OT Thousands evacuate area in Michigan after two dams fail

Discussion in 'Blazers OT Forum' started by SlyPokerDog, May 19, 2020.

  1. Lanny

    Lanny Original Season Ticket Holder "Mr. Big Shot"

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2008
    Messages:
    26,638
    Likes Received:
    16,951
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Elec. & Computer Engineer OSU Computer Science PSU
    Location:
    Lake Oswego, OR
  2. MARIS61

    MARIS61 Real American

    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2008
    Messages:
    28,007
    Likes Received:
    5,012
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    retired Yankee
    Location:
    Beautiful Central Oregon
    Every dam failure, and in fact every damn failure, can be traced back to decades of diversion of maintenance funds by leftist peabrains such as Whitmer, to instill Communism and eliminate borders.

    We need more expansive testing (of IQ's) and contact tracing (to identify the morons who voted for them) until we have a vaccine to save America from them.
     
  3. riverman

    riverman Writing Team

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2013
    Messages:
    67,845
    Likes Received:
    66,602
    Trophy Points:
    113
    And I thought the reason infrastructure was ignored was the get rich quick conservative focus on turning over real estate...inflating property values and building Hotels, Casinos and Golf Courses while selling get rich books...….why build a new dam or bridge when you can build a cash cow instead or double your money finding a sucker to pay your price? Sort of like the "wall" project...what a ridiculous waste of time and money..it's not IQ that's the problem, it's short term greed, take the money and run that's the problem
     
    Chris Craig likes this.
  4. UncleCliffy'sDaddy

    UncleCliffy'sDaddy We're all Bozos on this bus.

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2015
    Messages:
    7,361
    Likes Received:
    14,943
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Your stuff is getting better! Did you hire a ghost writer.....?
     
    Lanny, julius, Chris Craig and 2 others like this.
  5. riverman

    riverman Writing Team

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2013
    Messages:
    67,845
    Likes Received:
    66,602
    Trophy Points:
    113
    maris always has one sentence I want to give a like to but then mucks it up with some propaganda that's unlikeable by the end...except for the music threads...he brings the goods there
     
  6. CupWizier

    CupWizier Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2009
    Messages:
    11,265
    Likes Received:
    7,664
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    retired
    So dam failures are a democratic issue. How about recessions? Seems many of our recessions have come at the hands of republicans.
     
  7. julius

    julius I wonder if there's beer on the sun Staff Member Global Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2008
    Messages:
    44,419
    Likes Received:
    32,724
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Vagabond
    Location:
    Water Valley, Alberta Ca
    Well, an astute observer of history would realize that actually, all of those recessions were triggered solely by democrats, and their policies. In fact, everything bad that has happened to the country is the fault of the democrats, and everything good that has ever happened in the world, is to the glory of the republicans.

    It's as if you haven't been paying attention this whole time.
     
    yankeesince59 and CupWizier like this.
  8. Lanny

    Lanny Original Season Ticket Holder "Mr. Big Shot"

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2008
    Messages:
    26,638
    Likes Received:
    16,951
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Elec. & Computer Engineer OSU Computer Science PSU
    Location:
    Lake Oswego, OR
    LOL, Trump is the master of this.

    Edit:
    Unless, of course, it's for a virtually useless border wall to keep the brown skinned people out of our White Nirvana.
     
  9. Lanny

    Lanny Original Season Ticket Holder "Mr. Big Shot"

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2008
    Messages:
    26,638
    Likes Received:
    16,951
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Elec. & Computer Engineer OSU Computer Science PSU
    Location:
    Lake Oswego, OR
    Your IQ testing is going to eliminate an awful lot of Republicans because their average educational level is well below that of Democrats. There is no good vaccine for Republicans other than letting them die out naturally from old age but I guess that's a type of herd immunity.
     
  10. Lanny

    Lanny Original Season Ticket Holder "Mr. Big Shot"

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2008
    Messages:
    26,638
    Likes Received:
    16,951
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Elec. & Computer Engineer OSU Computer Science PSU
    Location:
    Lake Oswego, OR
    You must be talking about the vaccine to weed out the low IQ Republicans. Yeah, that was the only good part.
     
  11. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2008
    Messages:
    122,902
    Likes Received:
    122,899
    Trophy Points:
    115
    upload_2020-5-29_17-0-51.png

    Lee Mueller — the owner of the Edenville Dam that flooded last week, causing massive destruction of property in Midland County — was heir to the fortune of the founder of the Boy Scouts of America and purchased the dam as a tax shelter.

    That's according to an explosive report from Bridge magazine published Wednesday. According to the report, Mueller (a Las Vegas-based architect) and a cousin (the bagpipe-playing son of a French count... seriously) purchased four dams near Midland after selling a property in Illinois as a way to avoid paying $600,000 to the IRS.




    Mueller and his cousin are trustees of William D. Boyce Trusts, which manages the fortune of a Chicago publishing magnate who founded the Boy Scouts and left behind the equivalent of a $300 million fortune. They purchased the dams for $4.8 million, but had to borrow money to do it.

    By all accounts Mueller was a deadbeat owner who repeatedly clashed with federal and state regulators, as well as his neighbors, since purchasing the dams as Boyce Hydro Power LLC in 2006. According to one neighbor, Mueller "hates government, he hates paying taxes, and nothing makes him happier than when he can stick his finger in the eye of government." (So no, we are not surprised to see him sporting a Make America Great Again hat in the above Reuters photo.)




    Federal regulators raised alarms about the dams' ability to withstand a heavy rain as early as 1993. After the Edenville dam changed hands to Boyce, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission told the company to build new spillways that could accommodate flooding. Boyce fought the regulators for more than a decade, saying it didn't have the money to do it. In 2018, FERC revoked Boyce's license to generate power, choking off its ability to generate money.

    Mueller's disdain was not limited to regulators. The company also reportedly refused to fund a local recreation area, per its license agreement, and instead set up a barbed wire fence to prevent people from entering. Boyce would also lower the lake levels without warning, forcing homeowners to remove boats from the water, and even demanded homeowners fork over $80,000 so the company could refill the lake. Beyond that, Mueller was accused of ramming his car into a pick-up truck filled with people who had parked on his property to fish, and also smashing the car windows with a chain. The cases were reportedly negotiated down to misdemeanors.

    Local residents had apparently become so fed up with Mueller that they formed a group called the Sanford Lake Preservation Association to buy the properties from Mueller, and were even willing to pay double the price Boyce originally paid in 2006.

    In the end, Mueller's tax shelter scheme appears to have been not worth it. According to court records acquired by Bridge, Boyce Trust said the dams have lost money every year since at least 2016. The Edenville dam only generated about $1 million in annual revenue, while expenses were $1.2 million.

    And now the whole scheme is likely to cost Mueller far more.

    https://m.metrotimes.com/news-hits/...VzmcmllJPy-UJslpUyXgC-A#.Xs_j2_2RHpc.facebook
     
    Lanny likes this.

Share This Page