Many states do but the time they're required to provide is pretty short and not long enough in some areas (2-4 hours mostly 2-3) and even where there are provisions like that employers can refuse to provide the time.
> Though many states allow employees to have up to three hours off during the time the polls are open (the number of hours varies by state), nearly all of the states allow employers to refuse time off to vote.
The states that don't offer time off controls a very large portion of the electoral college votes, unfortunately. The ones that offer paid time off are at a real disadvantage because of the electoral college, too.
They might be, but is it paid time off? If it's not, then many people may choose to work instead. Especially shift workers being paid on an hourly basis rather than salary.
Properly sited roundabouts don't need lights. Anyone who "detests" them must not live or work near busy intersections governed by stop signs only. The town I'm working in now has two roundabouts and one 4-way stop. Morning and night, the 4-way stop backs up traffic for blocks, while traffic flows through the roundabouts without issue. The city council has set aside a million dollars to change the 4-way into a roundabout this coming spring.
There are lots of stoplights that should also be replaced by roundabouts. A solid line of traffic flows right through a roundabout, and most of it is delayed by a stoplight.
The only problem with roundabouts in USA is the 30% of drivers who don't know how to use them, and stop when they see the yield sign... don't be that driver.
As an American, I detest how other Americans use them. Some folks in the 'ring' slam on their brakes when they see another car approach. Others will randomly pull out in front of folks who are already in the 'ring', causing the first group to always slam on their brakes when they see someone approach. This causes the second group to always pull out into the 'ring' without yielding right of way.
No one uses turn signals on them, and you never know when, where, or if someone is going to turn. It's haphazard maneuvering. 4-way stops are far more predictable and functional.
Your first comment is accurate, no one uses turn signals in any of the ones I use on a daily basis either, but that doesn't make them inefficient. In fact I think it keeps everyone on the defensive, and makes them pay more attention before entering.
But as I said in an earlier comment, the reason they kind of suck in the US is we don't seem to do them right.
* A very wide circle (350ft/100m minimum) with 3 lanes
* Each entrance and exit has 2 lanes.
* The outside lane of the circle directly connects the outside entrance with the "first" exit.
* The middle lane of the circle and the inside lane of the entrance allows you to exit at ANY of the exits
* The far inside lane of the circle exits nowhere without a lane change, but allows you to bypass an exit that might be backed up due to traffic.
Huh? That's only feasible for intersections of large roads, but American four-way stops are usually on small(ish) residential roads, where single-lane roundabouts work just fine.
No one is saying that roundabouts should replace ALL intersections, and the few they have in small residential places operate just fine with a single lane, but I'm skeptical of their value over a proper 4 way stop or a 4 way protect turn light.
Regarding taxes, are you talking about Chicago proper or the surrounding suburbs? I rented in North Chicago for a couple years and I don't recall any taxes other than local and state sales tax, and state income tax. Granted that's pretty far north. Are the taxes higher as you get closer to the metropolis center?
They also will not take online orders during the Sabbath (i.e., Friday evening until Saturday evening). It's peculiar that they enforce it for online checkout. It's a quality website nonetheless.
Are you saying the home-made baklava was usually disappointing or the bought baklava was? The middle eastern ladies at my Orthodox parish make delicious baklawa.
The goal is just to get to 25x your annual spending. Once you're there if you earn 7% interest and only spend 4% (what you'd normally spend in a year), you've now not only spend no money (only a piece of the interest) and that extra 3% left over accounts for inflation. So you build a pool for 25 years of spending, then just coast on that for the rest of your life.
The key is to realize that it's not your earnings, but your spending, so it would behoove one to get that spending as small as possible to get to coasting more quickly.
The math works out in one of those "assuming a spherical cow" senses. It doesn't account for a market downtown for any length of time, nor a required change in spending habits (illness, emergency).
The extra 3% interest being earned that you're not spending (remember the goal is spending 4 of the 7% of interest ) SHOULD cover inflation. Hopefully. I'm not the sort to bet on that though.
