Justice in Texas and Wisconsin, and Checking Over Your Arithmetic in Maryland
News of the Weird Daily
Monday, January 12, 2009
Not a perfect double standard for teenage sex, but close
Last week in Sheboygan, Wis., a 17-yr-old girl got busted for consensual sex with a 14-yr-old boy, and a 17-yr-old boy got busted for consensual sex with a 14-yr-old girl; the 17-girl was charged with a misdemeanor and the 17-boy was charged with a felony. Yeah, the first was girlfriend/boyfriend while the second was boy/runaway-girl, but still . . .. Sheboygan Press
Comments 'double_standard'
Belgians take lots of sick leave
Some gov't agencies' employees average 35 sick days a yr. Europewide, it's 11.3/yr (vs. 4.5/yr in U.S.). Only a little bit of investigating of malingering is going on. "Only" 5 percent of absentees are provably cheating (but many, many more are "sick" with depression, the remedy for which might be to take a few days, or weeks, off and go have fun and kick that depression). (On the other hand, a guy who earns the equivalent of about $34k only gets to keep $21k of it after taxes, so . . ..) Wall Street Journal
Comments 'belgians_sickleave'
Go-cart park for construction-worker wannabes
Mannerspielplatz, near Kassel, Germany, charges the equivalent of about $280 for entry, but then you get to operate 29-ton backhoes and 32-ton front-end loaders, among other big toys. "We fulfill men's dreams" is the ad slogan, and, naturally, deskbound wimps are the major demographic. Wired magazine (January)
Comments 'construction_themepark'
Readers' Choice: More evidence of "Texas justice [sic]"
Death row inmate Andre Thomas, 25, ate his left eye in December after he just yanked it out. Sounds like he's nuts (and thus cannot be executed), but not in Texas. Thomas yanked out his right eye in 2004, yet the judge and jury still thought he knew right from wrong. And his arrest earlier in 2004, for three murders, came about because he walked into a police station to confess and handed over the three victims' hearts, which he had carved out of their corpses. Associated Press via Yahoo
Comments 'texas_eyeballs'
It's not like getting Madoffed, but it's still $31 million
In 2007 the Montgomery County, Md., real-estate assessment office mis-added some numbers and entered $16 billion more into the land value in the county than was there, and nobody ever checked the math, and that number got entered several more times in state and federal records, and eventually the state of Maryland was denied about $31 million in federal grants that it deserved to have under the law but couldn't get because its land is thus too valuable. Washington Post
Comments 'maryland_arithmetic'
Can't Possibly Be True: There's a company of door-to-door stockbrokers
(Bonus: They're hiring!) The average salesperson makes $65k/yr; they've been around since 1922; and they've been in trouble only once lately (for not disclosing that they get a fee for steering clients to certain mutual funds). And since they were almost totally into conservative investments, they didn't crash as badly as others did last year, and besides, the salespeople were ordered to call clients to apologize for the stock market's bad behavior. Still, you read it right: There's a company of door-to-door stockbrokers, and they're hiring. Wall Street Journal
Comments 'doortodoor_stockbrokers'
"The Arrangements Have Been Made" (continuing series)
A contractor named Sonny Otero bought some land in 2004 and then in 2006 sold it to the state of New Mexico, whose taxpayers paid Mr. Otero a $3.2m flipping profit, which they only were able to do because somebody in the legislature pushed through a vote on a special exception to the law, and then the exception bill was signed by the governor. Mr. Otero's one of the governor's biggest campaign supporter/contributors (though he hasn't contributed anywhere near $3.2m). That's how the world works, and that's one of the reasons the President-Elect had to go find another Secretary of Commerce. New York Times
Comments 'sonny_otero'
Your Daily Jury Duty
["In America, a person is presumed innocent until the mug shot is released"]
Fredrick Wessel and his wife Sharon, of Indianapolis, are the people pictured in this video and (scroll down) these mug shots. Remember: It doesn't matter what they're charged with; seriousness of the crime only relates to severity of punishment if they are convicted. Our only duty here: Are they guilty? WRTV (Indianapolis)
Comments 'fredrick_wessel'
Monday, January 12, 2009
Not a perfect double standard for teenage sex, but close
Last week in Sheboygan, Wis., a 17-yr-old girl got busted for consensual sex with a 14-yr-old boy, and a 17-yr-old boy got busted for consensual sex with a 14-yr-old girl; the 17-girl was charged with a misdemeanor and the 17-boy was charged with a felony. Yeah, the first was girlfriend/boyfriend while the second was boy/runaway-girl, but still . . .. Sheboygan Press
Comments 'double_standard'
Belgians take lots of sick leave
Some gov't agencies' employees average 35 sick days a yr. Europewide, it's 11.3/yr (vs. 4.5/yr in U.S.). Only a little bit of investigating of malingering is going on. "Only" 5 percent of absentees are provably cheating (but many, many more are "sick" with depression, the remedy for which might be to take a few days, or weeks, off and go have fun and kick that depression). (On the other hand, a guy who earns the equivalent of about $34k only gets to keep $21k of it after taxes, so . . ..) Wall Street Journal
Comments 'belgians_sickleave'
Go-cart park for construction-worker wannabes
Mannerspielplatz, near Kassel, Germany, charges the equivalent of about $280 for entry, but then you get to operate 29-ton backhoes and 32-ton front-end loaders, among other big toys. "We fulfill men's dreams" is the ad slogan, and, naturally, deskbound wimps are the major demographic. Wired magazine (January)
Comments 'construction_themepark'
Readers' Choice: More evidence of "Texas justice [sic]"
Death row inmate Andre Thomas, 25, ate his left eye in December after he just yanked it out. Sounds like he's nuts (and thus cannot be executed), but not in Texas. Thomas yanked out his right eye in 2004, yet the judge and jury still thought he knew right from wrong. And his arrest earlier in 2004, for three murders, came about because he walked into a police station to confess and handed over the three victims' hearts, which he had carved out of their corpses. Associated Press via Yahoo
Comments 'texas_eyeballs'
It's not like getting Madoffed, but it's still $31 million
In 2007 the Montgomery County, Md., real-estate assessment office mis-added some numbers and entered $16 billion more into the land value in the county than was there, and nobody ever checked the math, and that number got entered several more times in state and federal records, and eventually the state of Maryland was denied about $31 million in federal grants that it deserved to have under the law but couldn't get because its land is thus too valuable. Washington Post
Comments 'maryland_arithmetic'
Can't Possibly Be True: There's a company of door-to-door stockbrokers
(Bonus: They're hiring!) The average salesperson makes $65k/yr; they've been around since 1922; and they've been in trouble only once lately (for not disclosing that they get a fee for steering clients to certain mutual funds). And since they were almost totally into conservative investments, they didn't crash as badly as others did last year, and besides, the salespeople were ordered to call clients to apologize for the stock market's bad behavior. Still, you read it right: There's a company of door-to-door stockbrokers, and they're hiring. Wall Street Journal
Comments 'doortodoor_stockbrokers'
"The Arrangements Have Been Made" (continuing series)
A contractor named Sonny Otero bought some land in 2004 and then in 2006 sold it to the state of New Mexico, whose taxpayers paid Mr. Otero a $3.2m flipping profit, which they only were able to do because somebody in the legislature pushed through a vote on a special exception to the law, and then the exception bill was signed by the governor. Mr. Otero's one of the governor's biggest campaign supporter/contributors (though he hasn't contributed anywhere near $3.2m). That's how the world works, and that's one of the reasons the President-Elect had to go find another Secretary of Commerce. New York Times
Comments 'sonny_otero'
Your Daily Jury Duty
["In America, a person is presumed innocent until the mug shot is released"]
Fredrick Wessel and his wife Sharon, of Indianapolis, are the people pictured in this video and (scroll down) these mug shots. Remember: It doesn't matter what they're charged with; seriousness of the crime only relates to severity of punishment if they are convicted. Our only duty here: Are they guilty? WRTV (Indianapolis)
Comments 'fredrick_wessel'
Comments
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.
Category: