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Jennifer's avatar

The Tax Poem This poem was written by James L. MARRS in Indiana.

Tax his land, Tax his bed, Tax the table at which he's fed. 

Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes are the rule.

Tax his work, Tax his pay, He works for peanuts anyway!

Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat. Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax his work, Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he tries to think.

Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries tax his tears.

Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways to tax his ass.

Tax all he has, Then let him know, That you won't be done till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers, Then tax him some more, Tax him till he's good and sore.

Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in which he's laid.

Put these words Upon his tomb, 'Taxes drove me to my doom...'

When he's gone, Do not relax, Its time to apply the inheritance tax.

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Jake Seegers's avatar

Most depressing poem ever, Jennifer!

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Steve O.'s avatar

Jennifer's bleak view is exciting to another pessimist. Yet both the prose and irony reveal a mockery of our government which was always intended to possess limited power. At one time the power of the Supreme Court was challenged

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UFOCCWD's avatar

Wa state residents better have a trust to avoid being ripped off by wa state.

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Jennifer's avatar

Jeff Hate to say this, but Wa has put its finger in that pie too!

As a result of Governor Jay Inslee signing S.B. 5096 on May 4, 2021, Washington state will begin imposing a 7 percent tax on certain long-term capital gains beginning January 1, 2022.

Impact of Washington State Capital Gains Tax on Trusts

For all trusts identified as "grantor trusts" under Internal Revenue Code §§671 through 678, the individual grantor of any such trust will be subject to the new Washington capital gains tax. This applies to both revocable and irrevocable trusts for which the grantor is determined for income tax purposes to be the owner of trust assets.

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UFOCCWD's avatar

Just goes to show how greedy and corrupt some leaders are willing to go.Maybe just sell assets in blue state and buy a house in a red state equalizing profits then do what you need to do to capitalize $$$.Some savvy tax expert may come up with a solution.

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Steve O.'s avatar

LOL Thanks Eric Fehrmann. I thought all of the logical minds left the Pacific Northwest many years ago.

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Steve O.'s avatar

I was amazed when Gorbachev retreated. I built a nuclear bunker for no purpose except for the canned goods.

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Steve O.'s avatar

Porn and pot are also taxed.

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MK's avatar
Oct 5Edited

You sure put a lot of work into this, it paints a picture of our current reality. I'm appreciative of you and Jeff for shining a light on such an important topic.

The incessant spending of our Commissioners is a course that needs a change in direction. It's obvious that it does take money to run a county government, when it comes to core services. This environment is like a weekend party house in high school where the cool parents let the kids drink to abandon. No one is acting like an adult with our tax dollars and it's being spent/consumed in a drunken manner.

In the last BOCCC meeting I heard you make a comparison to the types of spending the Commissioners allow that are entirely discretionary, and by adding up just a few what their FTE equivalency was given departments are being told to tighten their belts and layoff employees.

It would be interesting to have the data for the last few years on these discretionary spends to get a better sense of how much money our Commissioners have handed out that could be used for core needs.

It would maybe take a small team of worker ants to parse the data, but it might tell another story for the electorate.

Over 1000 signatures. To put that into Ozias perspective, that could stop 10 Towne Road projects, if it was the right cause.

When I listen to the BOCCC all I ever hear is how they can get a hold of more taxpayer money, not how to generate it via local jobs. They're far too reliant on Recompete money.

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Jake Seegers's avatar

I agree, MK. It is a little harder to drill down to the department level, but I am confident we would find much.

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Garry Blankenship's avatar

Government in the U.S.A. has devolved from it's intended purpose of infrastructure, economic opportunity, safety and security into social behavior and minority-ism. I'm not assuming social behavior and minority-ism are not worthy of attention, but they are not tasks for Governance. When the most qualified applicant for a position is overlooked in favor of a Government decreed physical characteristic necessary to achieve diversity, equity and inclusion it proves a path to social degradation. That denial of the most qualified candidate was and is very expensive in tax payer cost. Government aimless growth has even recently digressed to championing the infinite derivations of sexual deviancy. Voters must choose between our Government providing the infrastructure basics or Government legislating and enforcing social acceptability; whatever that acceptability might be at that time. Honoring ancestry and culture is admirable, but it is not the charge of Governance. We are not $ 37 trillion in debt because of bridges and highways.

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Jake Seegers's avatar

Our commissioners have all shown that they favor bigger government and more government involvement.

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Jennifer's avatar

Jake, and several of your well written articles attest to that.

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UFOCCWD's avatar

People are fooled by resumes that give magnificent impressions but once elected into office the positive impressions turn to sickening impressions that may not go away.

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Susan C Bonallo's avatar

How do good people protect themselves from the voters pamphlets of liars! ?

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UFOCCWD's avatar

The hypocrite pamphlet liars do have the upper hand because of the decent morals of the voters not expecting hypocrite liars to be running for office.Savvy voters know what they up against by witnessing the hypocrites from past actions.Maybe the truthful conservatives will just admit their political choice and the hypocrites can use nonpartisan in the voter pamphlets like they have been doing.Why would a honest law abiding candidate try to hide their true political preference WHY?ok we know why,'you can fool me once shame on you but twice shame on me.

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Jennifer's avatar

Garry, I ran into the very same thing working for the IHS Indian Health Services. Hiring was (and still is) based on IP - Indian Preference. I was the most qualified for a few positions, but was passed over because of IP "status". Very true what you wrote..." That denial of the most qualified candidate was and is very expensive in tax payer cost". Took 2-3 years to train the IP's (if ever) to achieve the goal of having that person achieve a beginner level of competence.

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Robert's avatar

I remember writing an essay decades ago, when the modern welfare state was just beginning to grow like a supercharged amoeba. One of the points made was, once 51% of the voting public begins to receive "free stuff" from the government, we're doomed, because who is going to vote to quit getting free stuff? This is the lure of the "progressive" culture: you are not responsible for the fact that others might have more than you, even though they have worked longer and harder and sacrificed immediate pleasure for long-term security. Let Uncle (Sam) make it right by you ... and it won't cost YOU a nickel. And don't forget that roughly 70% of the cost of government is in personnel costs, both to pay for current salaries and benefits that most private sector folk can't obtain or afford, as well as those lovely pension packages. Shrinking the size and scope of the nanny state is paramount to long-term growth and financial success of any community.

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UFOCCWD's avatar

And then the freebies stop the states and govt broke and then what happens? All hell breaks loose every man woman child for themselves just like other poor countries.All because of the corrupt ignorants elected into office.

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AFB's avatar

It's called Government Dependency.

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SC's avatar

🎶 Oh clallam county let me know/ should I stay or should I go/

you always tell me how I'm free/

but proceed to tax my property/

If I go I may find other trouble/

But if I stay I will pay double/

So clallam county please let me know/

Should I stay or should I go🎶

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Geoff Fox's avatar

Now we remember that when the Constitution was authorized by those wise men, that only propertied landowners were allowed to cast a ballot. Think for a minute, how did you accumulate your property. You worked and worked hard. Now look around at the takers! Workers or Freddy the Freeloaders? No wonder those in power don't want to return to the "good old days of yesteryear". And vote in person! on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November? Never more quoth the ravers.

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No One Important's avatar

We should go back to those times!

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Jennifer's avatar

SC Perfecto!

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No One Important's avatar

The writing is on the wall. We're GTFO.

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SC's avatar

Sadly my family leans that way as well. But clallam is my home and before I leave I know I have to at least have given it a good ol' parking lot fist fight try.

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Eve So's avatar

Same. Took me 20 years to finally get here. I’m not going without a flight.

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Jennifer's avatar

Eve So, I've got your back too!; ) (and my whole damn trailer park posse)

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Jennifer's avatar

SC, got your back! Thank you for the "good ol' parking lot fist fight try" In my territory, the motto was, "You f.ck with me, you f.ck with the whole damn trailer park" LOL

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SC's avatar

😆Yep! I spent a majority of my time on the Upper Elwah, Lower Elwah and Makah reservations. Often times some disagreements were settled by meeting at a certain spot by "high noon tomorrow" to settle it out. And then everyone was all good again.

I love this place, and I cannot go out without a fight for it 😉

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No One Important's avatar

Eve, SC, Jennifer, we've been fighting since the SOS days. I am old, tired, worn out, and my stomach literally knots up when I see/read/hear about the corruption here. I want out before my health fails, and out 1st and 2nd Amendment rights are completely curtailed.

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SC's avatar

I can completely sympathize with that. 😔

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Susan C Bonallo's avatar

Moving isn’t the answer. The same bubbling pot of putrid slime will still be oozing over the tax payers. Greedy people from other states will swoop in and buy up the problems. (That the tribe hasn’t reclaimed, like it was theirs) It will take them awhile to notice.

I am not letting the three little pigs force me out. Our properties will be here long after our representatives (BOCCC) are just a skid mark in county history. They need to be shamed at every level for their egregious behavior towards “the will of the people.” How can they give the public their full time attention when they are sleeping in 17-20 other beds, Ozias?

He must have more hours in a day than the rest of the entire planet, or other boards expect zero impact from

him. Hey that’s what we are getting .

1032 of us think the commissioners are on the board of self enrichment. Well one of them just can’t find a hobby, so shows up.

for meetings.

For the spy that reports back to our 3 stooges,

Susan C Bonallo

Make sure they know my name. Won’t back down. Public is smarter than the commissioners. It’s so hard to protect yourself from liars when voting.

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4 reasonable development's avatar

What gets me is WHY would anyone vote for ANY increases at this point in time? If CCWD was printing and distributing false inaccurate information believe me we’d hear loud and clear about it by now. Numbers and facts don’t lie, people lie and they don’t like getting exposed, they don’t like being challenged and they don’t like taxpayers telling them to stop spending. The left tries hard to shut up the truth and facts as evidenced by Fisch trying to take away 1st Amendment rights of a Charter Review Commissioner, French restricting presentations during public comment and the list goes on….however if it’s one of theirs they get extra time to speak and show presentations, can use profanity toward others with no consequences. Finally heard one “Nay” after a year and a half but that was only because it wouldn’t have mattered and a commissioner wants to get re-elected. Sad sad Clallam County it could be so much better because there is so much room for improvement.

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Jake Seegers's avatar

Every levy increase is approached with classic negotiation tactics. Our job in the next few weeks is to educate as many around us as possible.

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Jennifer's avatar

Jake, so many people, so little time....giver the best we have!

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UFOCCWD's avatar

Clallam co was much better before ozias,french,johnson and some other liberal home wreckers were elected.There are a lot of voters not paying attention to elections and better wise up before it is to late.

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MK's avatar

That'll happen when we gather as a group to effect change.

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UFOCCWD's avatar

clallam co has small cities- towns word gets around quickly when enough people spread the word.

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4 reasonable development's avatar

I agree & felt this a long time ago.

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Kristin's avatar

Excellent comment!

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UFOCCWD's avatar

Voters just approved P.A.-sequim school levies and a OMH increase but 3 board commissioners do not think this is enough.Clallam county does not have a problem for lack of tax $$$, clallam county has a problem with 3 board commissioners wasting tax $$$.

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Denise Lapio's avatar

Thank you very much, Jake, for your contribution to save Clallam County. This is a must print article to readily have to share with others. People can see for themselves how many taxes we have had imposed on us and how much these taxes have drained our personal budgets. My husband and I expect a 17% increase in our property taxes for 2026. That increase does not reflect what taxes are still to come. This is why we ordinary CC residents and taxpayers need a seat at the BoCC table. We are NOT represented. Jeff and Jake have both publicly stated that WASAC is nothing more than a lobbying group. I 100% agree. Anytime Ozias touts the merits of one of his special interest groups, you know that he is in it to for his own selfish reasons. We, his constituents, are just the dirt beneath his shoes.

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Jake Seegers's avatar

Thank you, Denise for working so hard to spread the word of what is going on in our county!

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Kristin's avatar

Agree I am at the point of if MO says it is good I know it is bad. Which is pretty sad when you think about it. He no longer has any value as a commissioner at all to me.

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4 reasonable development's avatar

Just take a look at what signs are in his yard and In front of Ron Allen’s house or on tribal property, then vote for the other candidates. It’s a place to start for anyone on a fence post and wondering who to vote for….if it’s in their yard DON’T VOTE FOR THOSE PEOPLE.

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Geoff Fox's avatar

No doubt about it, we are getting hammered at the local level. And at the state level we are hammered with higher gas taxes and not being able lo log the land. And the Feds are hammering the State. And the state is being sued for some of the state imposed new taxes. You just know that the I-5 Governor is calling the numbskull Legislature back into session ASAP in 2026. Meanwhile back in Clallam County OMC continues to hemorrhage - maybe the CCC will float a levy to cover the $72 million debit. What was the old cartoon in the Sunday funnies Grin and Bear It.

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No One Important's avatar

What part of tax CAP do these miscreants not understand? We put limits on their spending, and they keep wanting more as if the money supply was limitless. Wouldn't it be great if we freely spent money then simply decided to get more when we ran out? Life doesn't work that way, contrary to the Commissioners' beliefs.

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MK's avatar

They don't know how to say no, or are afraid too. Either trait is a deficiency in a leader.

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No One Important's avatar

AMEN!

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Denise Lapio's avatar

French has publicly stated that spending over our revenue is ok because the gov't will print more. No joke! He thinks money rolls off the presses and all you have to do is ask.

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Jennifer's avatar

Denise, he thinks it rolls off our backs!

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4 reasonable development's avatar

As long as French can sit there and collect his $100K pay check with benefits he is going to do everything possible to keep and stay elected, all of them for that matter. Giving these idiots such high paying jobs is our mistake & donors gain. Let’s see if I was a wealthy business person you bet go with what keeps the dough rolling in & that is exactly what they all do, they could care less about what is the right thing to do.

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Eve So's avatar

IMO, one of the most interesting factoids was not even in the article. It was the fact that Norma Turner of the League of Women Voters was instrumental arguing for the OMC levy. From today’s transcript: “So Norma and Eugene Turner have a daughter and an adult daughter that married someone named Daryl Wolf. That is the CEO of OMC who just resigned. So I just wonder how much Eugene and Norma knew about their son-in-law, how he had absolutely impaled this hospital into the ground.

and was about to get his golden parachute and leave us with our hospital teetering on the brink of insolvency.”

That is absolutely huge and more folks should be aware of this connection. Thank you Jeff, for shining a light on the way policy in shaped in Clallam County.

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Jake Seegers's avatar

I agree, Eve! I'm so glad that Jeff made that connection for us.

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SC's avatar

I noticed that we magically have Ann Henninger now attempting to engage with people on ND and answer questions about the hospital. Right before elections.

Things that make you go hmmmmm

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AFB's avatar

Right, I noticed that also and it makes me mad! How predictable!

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4 reasonable development's avatar

Hasn’t she, Ann, been there all through this hospital crash? If she has then she’s part of the problem or was a problem by looking the other way?

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AFB's avatar

yes! Read Next Door from today. She was there, as SC above, stated. Did not seem to hold herself responsible for anything.

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Jennifer's avatar

Hmmmmmm ; )

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Geoff Fox's avatar

Have a feeling that October 10, 2025, Friday, the shoe will fall, and the old curtains from Sequim High School auditorium will fall, and the chapter will close on OMC. But look to, at the Board of Do Nothings, and the Press that feeds at the trough of advertising dollars. These new runners of the hospital are the spittin image of the past gluttons. The crows ravens eagles and hawks are feasting on the body.

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AFB's avatar

WOW JUST WOW! Someone needs to be held accountable !

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JJW's avatar

Words of wisdom from an old logger I knew “.They are all pi—ing thru the same straw”.

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Steven Pelayo's avatar

For a look at the actual property tax paid by county commissioners and Port Angeles City Council Members, click this link to the timestamp where I show the data. https://youtu.be/lRHz9qEJmuQ?t=1540

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Jake Seegers's avatar

MO has had it easy!

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MK's avatar

Nice chart!

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Kathy's avatar

“The building community would prefer reliability… and they are less sensitive to cost.” This assumption and attitude would make me stay away from Clallam county more than fee increases would. What nerve.

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Jake Seegers's avatar

Good point, Kathy.

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AFB's avatar

Still p*ssed about the whole OMC failure. Please don't vote for Ann Henninger.

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TJ's avatar

I must be the third type of person. I just want to be left alone. I do not want to give. I do not want to take.

Our country was built by men who said the same thing. Leave me alone. Your rights end where my nose begins. We can come together to kill kings but other than that stay on your side of the fence.

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AFB's avatar

I'm right there with you, TJ...I've already 'given', and never had any expectations; maybe you have, too. But this is outrageous, 'taxation without representation' and nothing in return.

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MK's avatar

The poet is our return.

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No One Important's avatar

AMEN!

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Kristin's avatar

Thank you Jake for presenting this information in such a way that lay folks can understand this clearly.

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Jake Seegers's avatar

Thank you for the kind words, Kristin!

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Kristin's avatar

“levy lid lift,” --- NOPE NO MORE

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Denise Lapio's avatar

Ever! They've taken enough for one generation.

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Randy Walterson's avatar

I tell my grand children this and I hope it sinks in : Be A Maker Not at Taker !

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Jake Seegers's avatar

I like that! Stealing it for my kids(;

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