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« December 2008 | Main | February 2009 »

Good News: No Delay For Switch To Digital TV

I’m glad that there is no switch to digital tv.  We’ve been hearing about the switch for over a year.  If folks aren’t prepared by now: tough luck.

If folks can’t get their $40 coupons — sorry.  You shouldn’t have waited until the last minute.  Besides, why should everyone be given a free $40 coupon anyway?  Why should the government be paying to help folks with their tv conversion?

Count me happy that there is no delay.

Posted by on January 29, 2020 at 11:59 AM in Business, Entertainment, Politics, Television | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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House Approves Stimulus Bill With No GOP Support

I wrote yesterday about some of the problems with the Stimulus Bill.  And today’s Washington Post has an article calling the Stimulus bill an $800 Billion Mistake.  I agree it’s filled with spending that will do little to immediately help the economy. 

My question is why the GOP was so united in their rejection of the bill.  I mean, not even one Republican voted for it — are you kidding me?  Did the Republicans see the 2 million people in Washington last week when Obama was sworn in as President?  Have they heard the calls for more bipartisan support from citizens and the President?  Were they there when President Obama went to Congress the other day to meet with them?

Either the Republicans are brilliant — being certain that the Stimulus package will fail — and they’ll be able to tell their constitutants that they voted against it.  Or they’re ignoring the vast popularity of Obama and the chance that the Stimulus bill will turn the economy around at their peril.

If it works, I wouldn’t want to be the party that unanimously voted against it.

Posted by on January 29, 2020 at 11:49 AM in Business, Legal, Politics | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Bad Economic News Continues

Monday’s Wall Street Fournal had a front page article about lots of large law firms throughout the country going belly up.  The Washington Post had an article announcing 45,000 job cuts by major businesses.  The local paper, the Portland Press Herald, had an article about the dramatic increase in foreclosures and bankruptcies in the state.

Today’s Portland Press Herald notes that Maine’s jobless rate is now at 7 percent — it rose from 5.7 percent in October, to 6.3 percent in November, to December’s 7 percent.  Last year at this time, the unemployment rate was 4.9 percent.

Ouch!

So what will the Obama $825 billion stimulus package do for us?  The Washington Post says that some Democrats are joining Republicans in predicting that the plan will do just what the previous $350 billion Bush stimulus did: nothing.

Many in Congress are disappointed that the package centers on the relatively small amount devoted to long-lasting infrastructure investments in favor of spending on a long list of government programs.  Apparently, only about 5% of the package is devoted to roads, bridges and other public transportation projects.

The Wall Street Journal today lambasts the plan as being filled with every conceivable Democratic spending wish list of the last 40 years. 

“We’ve looked it over, and even we can’t quite believe it. There’s $1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that hasn’t turned a profit in 40 years; $2 billion for child-care subsidies; $50 million for that great engine of job creation, the National Endowment for the Arts; $400 million for global-warming research and another $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects. There’s even $650 million on top of the billions already doled out to pay for digital TV conversion coupons.”

The entire country is suffering — hundreds of thousands have lost their jobs and are really hurting.  Most folks have already been dramatically affected by this poor economy in one way or another. 

Our political leaders need to get this done right.  If not, things will quickly go from bad to catastrophic.

Posted by on January 28, 2020 at 07:46 AM in Business, Current Affairs, Legal, Politics | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Even More Job Cuts — 45,000 Of Them!

The Washington Post is reporting today that some major U.S. companies are laying off 45,000 workers. 

“The job cuts announced so far today include 20,000 at heavy equipment maker Caterpillar, 8,000 at the Sprint Nextel telecommunications company, 7,000 at Home Depot, 2,000 at General Motors and 8,000 anticipated from the pending merger of the Pfizer and Wyeth pharmaceutical companies.”

 Ouch!

Whatever President Obama plans to do for the economy — it’d better be fast!

Posted by on January 26, 2020 at 02:34 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Legal, News, Politics | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Celtics Are Rolling Again

I’m not sure what happened to the Celtics a few weeks ago.  First they were cruising (a 19 game win streak) — then they stalled, badly (2–7 run) — now they’re on track again.  Yesterday’s easy 124–100 blow out over the Dallas Mavericks was not much fun to even watch.  It seemed to be over after the first quarter.

The Celts are now 37–9 and cruising….

CelticsLogo

Posted by on January 26, 2020 at 02:25 PM in Business, Entertainment, Games, Sports | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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The Stores Are Empty!

My daughter needed some new sneakers yesterday so I took her to Dick’s Sporting Goods store around 8:00 p.m.  There were a total of four other shoppers in the entire store.  The employee that helped us indicated that he’d been working since four that afternnon and only helped about eight different customers since the beginning of his shift.

When I remarked how deserted the store was, he said that it’s been that way since Christmas.  I asked when they closed, and he said 9:00; he told me that they just changed the closing time from 9:30 to 9:00 due to it being so slow.

I then went to Olympia Sports, another sporting goods store (this one in the Maine Mall), to buy some sneaker laces that my daughter wanted.  At that store, we were the only customers.

Passing through the Best Buy store, I spotted approximately a dozen other people.  An employee leaned against the counter at the single register that was open because no one was buying anything and she had nothing to do.

The Maine Mall itself also had very few people in it. 

Every day there are more and more stories in the newspaper about local companies laying off folks and stores and businesses that are closing or going through bankruptcy.  I have many clients who have recently lost their jobs and are suffering greatly.

Now that the holiday rush is over (such as it was), going to the malls and other department stores brings home just how bad the ecomony is in this area. 

How is it where you live?

 

Posted by on January 22, 2020 at 02:24 PM in Business, Legal, News | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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Obama: The Time Is Now

For all those Americans longing for a change from President Bush, today is the day for President-Elect Obama to become President of the United States.  No president in my memory has come into the office with more excitement and good will.  He faces many problems — both domestic and global.

Obama seemed remarkably unfazed by all the rigors of the campaign.  I hope he is up to the task of steering our nation to a new course of prosperity at home and leadership throughout the world.

ObamaHope

Posted by on January 20, 2020 at 08:42 AM in Business, Current Affairs, Legal, News, Politics | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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No Peyton, No Eli? No Problem.

You’ll have to look elsewhere for someone upset that the Colts and the Giants have been eliminated in the NFL.  As a New England Patriots fan, a Superbowl with no Mannings is a lovely sight indeed.

Now it’s just a matter of rooting for the team you dislike the least….

 

Posted by on January 13, 2020 at 11:23 AM in Business, Entertainment, Games, Sports, Television | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Do Criminal Trials Require 12 Jurors?

There is an opinion piece in today’s Wall Street Journal where Steven Calabresi, who teaches law at Northwestern University, and Michael Saks, who teaches law at Arizona State University, argue that criminal juries of less than 12 people are unconstitutional and should be rejected. 

In support of their position, they cite a case that might come before the U.S. Supreme Court, Deltoro v. Florida, where Mr. Deltoro was tried and convicted by a 6 person jury of sexually assaulting his daughter.  Professors Calabresi and Saks, argue that Mr. Deltoro should be given a new trial with 12 people on the jury. 

They rightly point out that a criminal jury of 12 people has been around for centuries.

To which I respond, so what?

What is so special about a criminal jury of 12 people?  What does it have going for it other than a long tradition?  Certainly there were no studies done six centuries ago under English common law that found 12 was the optimal number of people needed to dispense justice.  After all, let’s not forget the the first juries were less than representative of the people and sometimes even had individuals who knew about the facts of the case.

Even today, are there any definitive studies that determine the optimal number of jurors in a criminal case?  Is 12 better than, say, 14, or 9?  Is the optimal number — whatever that might be — the same for a murder case or a rape case or a burglary charge?

I wonder if there are any studies in online criminology degree programs which address this question of jurors?

Our civil system has used less than 12 jurors for years — yet I don’t hear about anyone routinely complaining about too few jurors in civil trials.

No, I don’t believe there is anything magic about having 12 citizens in a criminal trial.  Our justice system can still function fairly and effectively with less than 12 jurors in criminal cases. 

What do you think?

Posted by on January 06, 2020 at 08:33 AM in Legal, Writing | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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Good Time To Commit Minor Crimes In Maine

According to today’s Portland Press Herald, the district attorney’s office has told local police to treat certain crimes, including some cases of operating with a suspended driver’s license, as traffic offenses so that the D.A.’s office doesn’t need to handle it.  This is an effort to reduce prosecutors’ caseloads due to budget cuts.

So if you’re looking to commit some minor crimes in Maine, now would be the time to do it.

Posted by on January 06, 2020 at 08:23 AM in Business, Legal | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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