I enjoy reading scientific content. I also enjoy statistics. I also understand science and statistics can be complex and, therefore, misused (intentionally or not). Science rarely, if ever, results in simple explanations for complex situations.

For that reason, I am skeptical about most arguments regarding whether or not, and to what extent, anthropogenic (human caused) climate change exists. My skepticism stems from a number of tell-tale signs that something is amiss:
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Fake (non-functional, single-sided) shutters can be installed correctly (overlapping the side trim of a window; of the correct height and width to cover the window when hypothetically closed). To attach fake shutters in the wrong place, and of the incorrect size, looks silly. But more revealing is why fake shutters are most often attached to a Modern house in the first place.

Modern homes (those built after 1930) increasingly followed the Modernist movement's idea that homes should...

Anonymity tends to bring out the worst in people. I see a day when online ID's will require the use on one's real name and the registration of an address; both of which will be verified by site administrators in a central world wide [web] database. I see little harm in this as many people, by virtue of reknown or profession, are identified in such a way already. On those sites in which everyone presumably uses their real name and location civility reigns. Too many people fan the flames of what...

NYS Counties Map 25.jpg

Property Tax on Owner-Occupied Housing, by County, Ranked by Property Taxes as a Percentage of Home Value, 2006-2008 (3-Year Average) | Tax Foundation

Upstate New York, especially Western New York, leads the country in property taxes as a percentage of home value.

While the data is taken from a 3-year average (2006-2008) the current percentage can be derived by the following simple formula:

Tax Paid/Home Value = Tax...

We bought our home because it met most of the criteria we set for our search. I don't remember all but the things that come to mind include:

1) along the Suffolk side of the Nassau-Suffolk Co. border
2) a small, unimproved, older home that needed some or a lot of work;
3) on half an acre or more;
4) easy to maintain parcel (no retaining walls, drainage problems, etc.)
5) north of the Long Island Expressway (I-495, "LIE");
6) in an area...