Ex-CTLawyer

@truebt
“the question is what are you trying to accomplish by knowing your ancestors names? You will learn far more about things that matter by interviewing relatives.”

Genealogy involves far more than finding out your ancestors’ names. It can record where they lived, what trade they plied, Marriages, divorces, births, deaths, dates, criminal and armed forces records, etc.

I found out that a great-great grandfather’s 5 and 6th children were actually twins (born two days apart) and their mother died shortly after birth, he remarried and I am descended from the second wife. Both wive’s had the same name, so when I heard family stories growing up, I never learned their were two wives, or the great-great uncle and great-great aunt were twins.
I also had been told the family came to America from City X, whereas recorded records show City X was the seat of regional government where passports were issued (and appeared as place of origin on ship’s manifest), in fact they came from Town Y…30 miles away. I visited Town Y in the 1980s and was able locate the gravestones of my Triple Great Grandparents. Family stories would have never led my to this town, and previous searches for information in City X bore no fruit.

Proud

So you think I am the worst people…..
Send me a list of the organizations/yeshivos/hospitals your family uses and I;ll make sure they are not on my Tzedaka list.

Your broad statement shows your ignorance and hatred.

BTW…learn to write proper English if you wish to be taken seriously. You are the worst, the situation could be worse. As it is time for my lunch, I’ll go grill some knockwurst

Will the eventual closure of the USPO impact you?

It will affect me is a way much different than most in the CR.

It is no secret that I and our family trusts have real estate holdings. In Fairfield County we own two commercial properties where the USPO leases space for retail branches. They pay handsomely and on tile with long term leases. They have helped to educate my children and grandchildren.

I am far from the only American who is a supplier to the USPO and would be affected. Even the local gas station around the corner from my home has a contract to maintain the non-electric jeep tyoe delivery vehicles used in our town and supply the fuel. Our area POs use local janatorial companies to do their cleaning, snow removal, etc.

Every day (prior to Covid) there would be long lines of people waiting to get Passports. The PO is the the processing arm of the Dept of State Passport Service. They process the applications, can take your passport photos for a fee, sell you a money order to enclose in the envelope, etc.

In the inner city there is a dearth of banks. Poor people use the USPO as their bank, they buy money orders there and mail them to pay their bills. They also can get cash back when using a debit card, as opposed to using a commercial ATM with a few dollar fee.
Both the homeless and those traveling can have mail sent to Genera Delivery, Anytown USA XXXXX and pick it up at the PO.

@Meno
What I suggested using Bill Pay for any vendor who will accept a check, works now. If the USPS closes down, the bank will not be able to issue and mail those checks to pay the bills.

@Gadolhadorah
here in CT if I go on the Electric or Gas company (both owned by the same holding company) website and want to pay my bill I have two choices:
#1 MUST only receive electronic bill and can pay on line by checking account only
#2 Get paper bills and can’t pay on line by checking account
Otherwise, you are transferred to a third party payer system (Western Union) who will handle your debit or credit card payment and collects a fee of $3.95.

That’s why I use my bank’s billPay system which is free.

@AviK
I have heard and read T Sowell and am not impressed.
You are in Israel, are you under the healthcare plan? I;d like everyone in America to have that option and am willing to pay more taxes to do so.
This is a representative democracy and we elect legislators to decide what to tax and how to spend. We can vote for others in the next election if we are not happy with their choices. I’d rather that than a parliamentary system with votes of no confidence and 3 failed elections and no government formed.

We will never agree

They’re running a special at Brisk
A free case of Lipton Tea for all new students…………………………

We need some levity in this time of Covid

Didn’t lose electricity or get flooded, BUT
100 year old Oak tree came down on a corner of the garage and hit trunk of car
Limb from Silver Maple came down and took out 10 feet of pool fence and may have damaged pool liner.
B”H everyone was inside house and safe
Already notified insurance carriers, submitted photos and started claims process………………….

1
Obama is working very hard to elect Democrats because we have suffered great;y under Trump nd the McConnell Senate.
He is not working to salvage his legacy.

I don’t know any rich Dems in my small town. I do know some comfortable people in both parties and unaffiliated, as well. None of us are patting each other on the back….DON”T YOU KNOW THERE”S A PANDEMIC?????????????????

The party isn’t shifting to Socialism. FDR started that in the 1930s with Social Security, Johnson in the 1960s with Medicare. I want single payer Universal healthcare like the rest of the civilized world. Mrs. CTL was in the hospital again last week…6 days in ICU. Her policy is through ACA, I’m on Medicare. If Trump had her way, she’d have no coverage because of preexisting conditions. Maybe you don’t care if you go bankrupt trying to pay medical expenses, I do.

@CoffeeAddict
I objected to Trump’s plan that capped deduction for state taxes at $10K. This was aimed at Blue states. The flyover states have much lower taxes/

My comment quoting my late father has to do with income taxes.

I have made no comment about the Biden plan as I stated I have yet to read the plan and there are no firm details, Furthermore, I will comment after the plan is finalized and available to digest.

That said, there is a good reason for like type property swaps, besides avoiding capital gains taxes on a direct sale. Once a property is fully depreciated for tax purposes (generally 29 years, the loss of the depreciation expense makes the same rents a taxable profit and is a disincentive to keep the building. If one swaps the new owner gets to depreciate it all over again, rents can remain the same and the commercial tenants are not hit with a rent increase if they have a triple net lease to cover the increased income tax without depreciation.

I have clients who have used to swaps for tax advantages, often on small commercial buildings or apartment buildings of less than 12 units. I don’t generally sell real estate, but place it into trusts for future generations of the CTL clan

@Akuperma

“The statistics show race isn’t a big issue (black cops are just as likely to kill blacks as white cops are). The issue is police abuse of people they are arresting, regardless of race (and perhaps not regardless of class – rich people tend to get much better treated when getting arrested). There is no excuse for police to being injuring unarmed persons, even if they deserve it.”

RACE is a BIG issue. Many police departments (including the one in my small town) have been found to practice systemic Racism. It is NOT just about Killing Blacks, or Arresting Blacks.
Much of the systemic racism is the HARASSMENT of Blacks (and Latinos). No shooting ior arrest need be made, but get caught driving across the Town line while black…..DWB and you have much greater chance of being pulled over, having your license and registration run and checked fro an insurance card. You also will be illegally questioned as to why you are here and where are you going.

The State of CT has sanction our police Deoartment and abiout 20 others, issuing, fines, ordering changes, including training, asked that certain top personnel be demoted or fired, etc.

Also, you are not just as like to get ANYTHING by a Black cop as a White Cop, when your small town/suburban police force is 98% white.

@som1
I did reply earlier, but is must be lost in Cyberspace, perhaps shot down by Trump’s Space Force…..

#1 Forbes has no more access to Trump’s financial records than you or I do. You read an OPINION, not provable facts about his net worth
#2 Many people have seen tax increases, but many more have seen increases in state and local taxes during this administration. Not as much money is flowing to local and state government from the Feds and uit has to be made up from increased and new taxes.
#3 I never said we should not have travel restrictions because of the Corona Virus. We should have locked the country down tight in March and had national stay at home orders and REQUIRE face masks when out of your own home
His nonsense about 15 cases and it will be over soon, and it will be warm soon and it will go away is ridiculous. Same with the ineffective anti-malaria drug and ingesting bleach.
#4 Incompetents on the Federal payroll, Let’s start with Betsy DeVos (knows nothing about education), then Dr. Ben Carson, who may have been a brain surgeon, but is totally unqualified to run HUD, and it is a shambles. Then there’s Don Jr’s girfriend bringing in a 6 figure salary plus benefits. Lynne Patton, an event planner who planned Eric Trump;s wedding was made Director of Region II (NY and NJ) HUD. Mabe she can choose flowers and a band, but she is not able to run this agency.
The list goes on and on.
#5 Putin’s Puppet………..Trump is beholden to Russia and its Putin controlled Banks for the financing that kept his business alive when no one else except Deutschebank would loan him money. CTL daughter worked fro a Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, responsible for running/provisioning/staffing his 100M super Yacht. They spent a month in Turkey in summer 2015 with all the Russian big shots at a resort, Trump and flunkies were in and out, cutting deals and receiving instructions.
#6 I”YH, If the pandemic lifts and travel becomes safe, Mrs. CTL and I plan to spend January and February 2021 in our House in Herzyla Pituach, instead of our home in Florida. If Trump wins reeelction we might stay longer.

@DovidBT
Biden was not my first choice, but he is preferable to Trump.
I’ll vote for him and even made a modest contribution.
Trump will not win my state (and didn’t in 2016).

I would have voted for Romney if he was the nominee

Moshe from Midwood………………………..
Both Mrs. CTL and I grew up in homes with private in-ground pools. Our siblings all have them as well as some of the married children, nieces and nephews.
We have never allowed a child under 12 to swim unsupervised and the pools are fenced and alarmed. Our youngsters were taught to swim the summer after they were out of diapers. It is always safety first.

@Shady
Since it hasn’t happened in thousands of years there is no reason not to be comfortable until it happens.

Thank you and use it good health…………………
It was one of the best investments Mrs. CTL and I ever made. This is our 25th summer using the pool. With all the grandchildren here since March it has been invaluable.
Three years ago, we made the decision to heat the pool…it was $3500 well spent. We used to open the pool June 15 and close it Labor Day as schools were about to open.
This year, we opened it in April and will keep it open until mid October. Our youngsters are not using public parks, trails, ball fields this year. Only G-d knows how schools will open this fall.
Using only our own labor we added a trampoline pit this spring, an additional Basketball 1/2 court and yesterday, we mixed and poured a concrete strip for shuffleboard and hopscotch (potsy to old time New Yorkers).
Our children and grandchildren have acquired useful skills needed by homeowners and have a real sense of pride and accomplishment in using things they help construct.
We have been mocked for having a family compound, but 2020 has shown this to be a wise decision.

@1
always posting LIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Biden is NOT bring in 11 million illegal immigrants. These people are already in the USA. If the President brought in people by changing rules or standards, the newcomers would NOT be illegal.

Some of us would like to cut some police funding. The police in my town are a racist bunch who profile and stop people for Driving While Black. The department has been sanctioned by the State of CT..,

You don;t know who he’ll appoint in his administration and that they’ll be anti-Israel…you have no crystal ball,
Certainly Satmar is anti-Israel and you are not screaming they are scum.

@CommonSaychel
Please don’t make assumptions…………………
This daughter lives in a house in Kew Garden Hills, works mostly from home (pre Covid 19) coming to our CT office about once a week, She handles our client cases in NY Surrogates Court. Her husband heads our NY office and handles contract law.
So she flew from a frum area in NYC to LA (which does have frum people) and return.
None of the family living here in small town CT has contracted the virus.
I”YH she will recover quickly. We have made no contact delivery of food and all other needs to her.

This is why we isolated ALL of our grandchildren and great nieces and Nephews here back in March and they will stay for the foreseeable future. We don;t expect to allow any to return to school/yeshiva/college in person this fall. It will be on-line learning, the older ones teaching the younger ones and Mrs. CTL and I teaching the older ones. Not quite the ‘one room schoolhouse’ as we have multiple learning spaces.

YES,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Thee is still Corona Virus in the Frum World.
This past Friday, our eldest daughter tested positive.
Three weeks ago she flew to and from Los Angeles on business (against our advice).
She was there less than 48 hours, wore masks, used sanitzers and tried to avoid being close to people. BUT so many of the people were not wearing masks.

B”H she appears to have a mild case, but the long term after affects are unknown.
Keep your guard up…..we are in for many more cases

I object to the OP’s premise about ‘investing in America’
How long before we have to move to EY
Should we rent in USA and buy in EY………………………………

I don’t consider buy a piece of property as investing in a country. You are investing in the real estate. Governments come and go, the land remains forever.
To quote a currently controversial piece of American culture, Gone With The Wind:
“Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin’ for, worth fightin’ for, worth dyin’ for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.”

My investment in America is my participation in elections and politics. It is not my purchases and holdings of real estate (which I have in multiple countries).

The investment in a home for your family (as opposed to continuing to pay rent), is generally an investment in your family and its future security. No longer at the mercy of landlords and rent increases, etc.
That is the same no matter where in the world you live.

@Health
Objection
Asked and answered
OVERRULED

Health is ordered to sop badgering the witness.

You realized after I answered that the question you asked is not the one you wanted answered…that’s how novices lose cases. 40 years in I don’t fall for those traps. I;ve moved on to the next case

@Health
How could I answer a question you hadn’t asked.
When you posted finding fault with my answer, you posted a different question than the post I replied to; the word FIRST was not in the original question.

You don;t get a second bite at the apple

@ZSK
You are correct that privately owned land is very hard to get a hold of unless you have a lot of money. We sold that house and land acquired by a relative in January 2020. I bought it from the relative in the 1990s. The purchaser paid us a lot of money, but wanted to own not lease land so it could be there for his children, grandchildren, etc.

I hate land leases. In 1970 my grandparents bought a condo in Florida with a 50 year land lease. They figured they were in their 80s and would not be around 50 years, so who cares. An aunt of mine has occupied it since her retirement. This year she got a notice that the land lease was up. The successors to the condo developers, now want an additional $500 month land rental and will only give two year leases. The market value has plunges. She has no investment in it as it sits in a family trust.
She is buying a new condo with no underlying land lease and the trust will sell the condo for peanuts.

I would not consider buying a home with a land lease. B”H I don’t have to.

@ZSK
NOT everything is owned by the JNF/KKL
Please stop posting misinformation.
Some of us own homes/land that was purchased during the British Mandate.
We recently sold a house and 5 dunams of land in Ramat HaSharon that were purchased by a relative in 1946 from an Arab seller who wanted to move to the more Arab City of Yafo.
We own and the family uses a house and land it sits on in Herzylia Pituach puchased in the early 1980s.

Maybe most new development is on JNF/KKL land with land leases, but resales of privately owned land exist…they are not cheap

@DovidBT
Yes I remember that chant, along with H*ll No, I won’t go and burning draft cards.
My favorite anti-war lapel button that I wore for years read:
“War is good business, invest your son”