Was Mitt Romney lying to the SEC about leaving Bain Capital in 1999? Because that would be a felony.
Or was he lying under oath in 2002 about being there? Because that’s perjury.
Sorry, this is kind of important. But hey, I guess Wall Street types think you have to break a few laws.
In closing: Let the banks fail; made in America; concrete; borrowed words; and no such thing as too old.
2%: Ok, you don’t normally find good articles about taxes at a science website, but here’s the truth about the Obama Tax Plan. Would you prefer an economist’s take on the bad news coverage that makes it seem like a better idea to get your news from a biologist?
Speaking of Economics: Economics textbooks may be dangerous to real life economies.
Sad but true: Not paying the mortgage is not the only way to lose your home to foreclosure. You can also lose it because of unpaid taxes, unpaid sewer bills, and in some states unpaid HOA fees/fines.
A pair of potentially related education items: Many students report school being too easy. Here’s a free book on how schools fail our children.
What?: Who are these morons putting the baby monitor close enough to the baby that baby can strangle him/self with the cord??
Rmoney: I’m not big on nicknames, but this one fits.
TSA: Sign the petition to make them follow the law.
And that’s the word from Vegas, where the projected high temperature is 114 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s 10 degrees hotter than the maximum thermostat setting of a modern hot tub.
Sorry, I’m not going to add my somewhat useless two cents worth to the discussion of the Supreme Court and the Affordable Care Act. You can get that from almost every other blog on the interwebs today. I still hope we end up with an option beyond being forced to pay the highly profitable insurance companies that arguably created the problem in the first place.
A couple weeks ago in the In Closing bits, I said that “the case that will show ‘stand your ground’ laws have gone overboard involves a grade school teacher who was killed because the stereo was a little loud.”
It turns out that in a rare victory for common sense, I was right.
A unanimous jury was smart enough to say “Hey wait a minute, you were so scared that you went and confronted an elementary school teacher with a freaking gun because his stereo was a little loud?? Didn’t think to call the cops on a noise complaint?”
He probably thought he was being clever recording the incident on video. Maybe he shouldn’t have “bragged about his guns and told [a neighbor] a person could avoid prosecution in a shooting by telling authorities you were in fear of your life and were standing your ground and defending yourself.”
What a shame that somebody had to die for logic to prevail. It’s one thing to shoot at someone who is trying to kill you. It’s another thing to make up a threat to justify murder.
Comrade E.B. Misfit has a knack for putting thinks briefly: “Stand Your Ground” Does Not Mean “Go Looking for Trouble”.
In Closing: funny how libertarian utopias are only grand in the absence of disaster; and Americans would rather have Obama than Romney in charge should there be an alien invasion. Nice to see we have our priorities straight.
My wallet needs a little cleaning out. It’s got a little cash, a couple credit cards, some loyalty cards for various businesses, an ATM card, a couple business cards, some old receipts, and a drivers license.*
You know what it doesn’t contain?
Proof that I am a United States Citizen, legally entitled to work in and be in this country.
And let’s get technical now, even if I were to stuff my short form birth certificate in there, it might not be good enough.**
Sure, I’m not worried if I go to Arizona. First of all if I’m in Arizona that means I’m at SkyHarbor with my passport waiting on a flight. Second, I’m a middle aged, middle class white woman. Supreme Court rulings aside, the odds of some random cop deciding I might not be a citizen are rather small! People of color and poor people are much more likely to find themselves trying to prove they are citizens.
I heard an interview with an ACLU representative this week and they are already on the lookout for profiling. Be sure to give them a call if you are a person of color targeted by Arizona cops.
Heh, not that cops in Maricopa County give a damn about the ACLU or court rulings.
In closing: not a bad idea; eminent domain and censorship; elitism; and apparently in Mexico it’s ok to arrest somebody for something his dad did.
* A drivers license shows that I can drive a car (legally and safely, one would hope). Technically it is also proof of identity. It is not proof of citizenship.
**And that’s why birther ramblings are dangerous to all of us. If the President can’t prove he’s an American, neither can you.
Well, I had no idea that my lunchbox could impact the taste of my lunch. Any readers want a taste that doesn’t make sense? Anybody?
This Japanese food transport system was found in my local Asian grocer. I have no idea what the original brand name was, since Japanese doesn’t have an L sound. Gurit and Burirria? Sounds awkward.
In Closing: turns out Anderson knows that the CBO is something called “non-partisan”; let’s confuse everybody some more!; War on Drugs turns into War on Perfectly Legal Pain Medications that Some People Desperately Need; I think I’d rather have the stack of iPads; fat kids can’t do math?; duh; related; I wish I thought he was right; and part of me wishes this were a real audiobook.
Maybe you heard the story of a blogger who was threatened with jail time for blogging about his experience in a non-mainstream diet called “Paleo” or “Primal” eating. Never mind for just a moment that his diet doesn’t conform to what The Experts think it should. That wasn’t the issue at all: the issue and his “crime” is that he was giving dietary “advice.”
That’s exactly what the American Dietetic Association is trying to make illegal across the nation: giving “advice” without having their name-branded license. Don’t believe me? Go on to page 3 where you’ll learn about a lady with a freakin Masters Degree in Human Nutrition who was told by her state to shut down her practice of, well, nutrition. Now, if she’s not an expert, I’m really not sure who would be!
So, could I run afoul of these laws by pointing out that veggies are good for you?
What if I link this article on how sugar may be bad for you? Never mind that too much sugar is absolutely bad for you, that article was written by journalists, not dietitians or nutritionists.
How about if I link to this infographic about nutrition for athletes and those who wish to get into shape?
This is foolishness and must be stopped.
In Closing: the case that will show “stand your ground” laws have gone overboard involves a grade school teacher who was killed because the stereo was a little loud; Depak Desai has some ‘splainin to to to the bankruptcy court; funny how you can be a loose cannon when you aren’t running for anything; he admits it; anybody surprised??; Click and Clack retiring; electric race car going up the mountain; I thought impersonating a police officer was a crime?; yeah right; and have a great weekend.
Who knew doctors were good at cooking Chinese food! You would think they’d practice medicine instead. Free blood pressure check and egg rolls with purchase of family dinner?
Also, I’ve been trying to figure out if it’s Club Ash Pa, Lash Spa, or Cash Spa for 6 months now.
In Closing: a fun game you can play at home; Darwin Award nominee; what??; caffeine; don’t keep it simple; wages and rents; and, um, Unicorners. Stay tuned for a book review tomorrow to round out my own month of everyday blogging (sometimes over at my pro site). Nope, not gonna call it NuPaBluGagEvQ or whatever the cutesy name for “blog every day month” is.
Nothing says “I love my country” and “support our troops” like a great t-shirt. This one makes sense, mostly. What could be more American than Rock and Roll?
Then again, maybe you prefer patriotic stars-and-stripes dolphins on a lavender background. Maybe they are helping our Navy!
Surely, nothing represents remembering our fallen troops like a kitten sitting in a flag-bordered red-white-and-blue flowerbed watching fireworks! How A-MEOW-ican!
Don’t dare tell Sigfried and Roy that white tigers can’t be patriotic Americans too. Roar!
And finally, patriotism is not just for American cats. Japanese cats can love America too (offer not valid during World War 2). Heck, Hello Kitty loves America so much, you can co-ordinate patriotic Hello Kitty shorts with your patriotic Hello Kitty t-shirt.
I think I need some nice, American bourbon.
In Closing: TED; poor deliberately made poorer; space for profit; Robert Reich; bloody Romans Government; more Mitt on education; should have expected this; and castles.
Yes, it’s Towel Day once again. Don’t forget your towel. And most importantly DON’T PANIC.
In Closing: R-Money proposes using my tax dollars to send rich kids to private school help poor and middle class families still not afford private schools; would it have been so hard for some adult, any adult to say “We treat others with respect around here?? (I don’t even know what to say); 550 cats and no husband; there’s an app for that; oops; Detroit; achievements include 8 life sentences; mass hysteria; and Today I Learned there is a patron saint of the Internet.
Seriously, I’m coming up on 9 years of writing here, and this is the first time I’ve been able to write those words without meaning it sarcastically.
First, unemployment is down to 8.1% (locally, down to 12.4%). That’s still too high, and it still doesn’t account for people who have given up on finding a job and people who have settled for part time work. And the economy still isn’t quite up to making enough jobs for people new to the workforce, and new grads are still going to have a crappy time out there. However, not that long ago we were looking at almost 10%.
Second, there are signs of life in American manufacturing. Auto plants are working at capacity, and may have to actually hire an additional shift of workers — which is much less expensive than building a new plant and then having it sit idle 16 hours a day. Some industries that decided it was cheaper to make it overseas and ship it here are thinking twice. Senior executives are cautiously optimistic, and 40% report moving operations to the United States.
Finally, home prices are starting to inch up. Granted, this is at least in part because of reduced supply (and at least in part because prices got stupid-low on a per-square-foot basis in some places).
So there you have it. People are getting jobs and buying stuff. Some manufacturers are running out of the ability to make more stuff — so they may have to build places and hire people to make even more stuff. Maybe soon the Fed can raise interest rates from the supposedly “stimulating” levels they are today, and in turn banks will be able to make a reasonable profit lending money without making up fees or outright committing fraud.
In Closing: Who could have guessed that Citizens United could open the door to ordinary people taking over elections?; never forget Romney’s dog; Tokyo Sky Tree now open; too useful to be real; cheap and free ebooks; yet one more reason I’m against school vouchers; FISA; $27,000??; and the Vatican gets outraged when nuns actually act on What Would Jesus Do.