DarkStar Spouts Off

Business and Taxes

Amazon Packing After South Carolina Vote: http://tinyurl.com/3usx2cv

Amazon all but told South Carolina goodbye Wednesday after the online
retailer lost a legislative showdown on a sales tax collection
exemption it wants to open a distribution center that would bring
1,249 jobs to the Midlands.

Company officials immediately halted plans to equip and staff the one
million-square-foot building under construction at I-77 and 12th
Street near Cayce.

“As a result of today’s unfortunate House vote, we’ve canceled $52
million in procurement contracts and removed all South Carolina
fulfillment center job postings from our (Web) site,” said Paul
Misener, Amazon vice president for global public policy.

The decision came shortly after state representatives rejected the tax
break 71-47.

Facing 20 Years for Using a "False" Address!?!?!?!

Here we go again. A woman, who is homeless and splits her time between a friend's house, a shelter, and a van, sent her son to a school in a district "where she didn't leave." The end result is she is facing 20 years for using a "false" address!

Connecticut authorities have filed theft charges against Tanya McDowell, a homeless woman, alleging that she used a false address to enroll her son in a higher-income school district, The Stamford Advocate reports. If she's convicted, McDowell may end up in jail for as many as 20 years and pay a $15,000 fine for the crime.

McDowell is a homeless single mother from Bridgeport who used to work in food services, is now at the center of one of the very few false address cases in the Norwalk, CT, school district that is being handled in criminal court--rather than between the parent and school. Authorities are accusing McDowell of enrolling her 5-year-old son in nearby Norwalk schools by using the address of a friend. (Her friend has also been evicted from public housing for letting McDowell use her address.)

McDowell says she stayed in a Norwalk homeless shelter sometimes--but she didn't register there, which would have made her son eligible to attend the school.

"I had no idea whatsoever that if you enroll your child in another school district, it becomes a crime," the 33-year-old told the paper.

Come on!

Really?

DarkStarTweets

I'm on Twitter.

DarkStarTweets.

GPS

While I'm taking a break from "do list" duties, here's my thought on Google and Apple phones caching GPS locations and then sending it back to Google and Apple, respectively.

You gave them permission to do it and you take advantage of it, so what's the big deal?

Many people use the applications that allow them to "check in" to locations where they can then get store specific discounts and/or use applications that let others know where they are, or use applications that let friends know their specific location when they are going to meet someplace and/or use GPS direction applications.

When I got the Droid Incredible, the first thing I did was turn of GPS location applications and disabled the picture geo-tagging ability. But, months later, I turned GPS back on to use Google Maps for driving directions. I matched the directions given by Google Maps to the directions given by my car's built in GPS capability. Google Maps was better AND provided visual indicators of backed up traffic along the route. The only way the near real-time traffic conditions update can be given is if your telephone is giving out GPS locations along the way and then on the back end system, the system is calculating average speed of your telephone and others in the area.

So, I don't see it as a big deal. If you don't like it, turn it off. It's always a good idea to turn off geo-tagging of pictures so no one can obtain the location of your activities. That reduces the risk of crimes against you or your family based on "Internet snooping".

 

WTH!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

This went down in Baltimore County.

I don't know if this is a hate crime, as I don't hear any race based slurs being used, "only b*tch*, but that doesn't really matter. The two hood rats have been arrested and charged. One is 14 the other is 18 and they both have been charged as adults.

This crime needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and the hood rats should be given the maximum penalty with no parole.

PERIOD.

Trump and the GOP

OK, let me understand this...

Donald Trump is making the media rounds as well as making political
rounds, saying he is thinking about running for the GOP nomination.
Meanwhile, he is supporting the birther cause, said we should take
control of Iraqi oil, impose tariffs on China, as well as other
things. I'm going to ignore that he is a straight up media whore and
lives by the P.T. Barnum statement, "There's a sucker born every
minute."

In media polls, Trump polls very high against other non-declared but
possible presidential GOP nomination candidates. Some Republican media
pundits are now starting to take aim at Trump in an effort to "knock
him out" before he starts. There is now a backlash against those
pundits by "grass roots" Republicans who are saying those going after
Trump are part of the GOP establishment.

Here is where I need help understanding some things.

Donald Trump PUBLICLY cheated on wife number one. Divorced her and
married "the other woman." He then divorced her and remarried.

Donald Trump "was" pro-choice until he started this media campaign,
and now he's "is" pro-life.

Donald Trump has STRATEGICALLY declared bankruptcy, multiple times.
One of those times, Donald Trump's father, who was wealthy when he
turned the business over to Donald Trump, went to one of the casinos
facing default, obtained millions of dollars worth of gambling chips,
and then left the casino.

Given real negatives like that, the Republican "grass roots" appear to
be supporting Trump? The "grass roots" that is said to be big on
family values and morals and personal responsibility?

[ UPDATE ]

I forgot to mention that Trump has given to numerous Democrats.

Donald Trump has said that Ronald Reagan was the worst president of all time.

Donald Trump has said that George W Bush was the worst president of all time.

The Maryland Black Caucus Sold Out Blacks

The other day I wrote my objection to the Maryland State Assembly
passing a bill that gives illegal aliens the right to be considered as
in-state students when they apply towards Maryland colleges. (It's
more complex than that, but that's a simple explanation).

I just heard on the radio, WBAL, that the Black caucus had objections
to the bill but to get their votes, the other legislators agreed to
institute an increase in the alcohol tax and provide an increase in
funding for Baltimore City schools and Prince Georges schools by using
some of the funding from the alcohol tax.

Earlier this morning, I called into WOLB to correct a state senator
who said the bill applies towards people who pay federal and state
taxes and you can't be illegal and pay those taxes. I corrected her by
saying if they give a social security number, they are committing
fraud, at a minimum, because they are not using a legal social
security number. If they have a tax payer id number (TIN), then they
are using an illegal TIN. Additionally, to get a TIN, you have to be a
citizen of the U.S. or a legal resident!

Let me break this down clearly: If more illegal students get into the
University of Maryland system, they are taking slots of LEGAL in state
students. In some cases, those students will be Black.

The Black Caucus sold out the Blacks they represent!
PERIOD.

Duh, NOT Winning

OH, so Rep. Boehner was the winner in the budget standoff, right?

http://tinyurl.com/423u2er

WASHINGTON — A new budget estimate released Wednesday shows that the
spending bill negotiated between President Barack Obama and House
Speaker John Boehner would produce less than 1 percent of the $38
billion in claimed savings by the end of this budget year.

The Congressional Budget Office estimate shows that compared with
current spending rates the spending bill due for a House vote Thursday
would pare just $352 million from the deficit through Sept. 30. About
$8 billion in cuts to domestic programs and foreign aid are offset by
nearly equal increases in defense spending.

The House began preliminary debate on the measure Wednesday with it
easily advancing over a procedural hurdle by a 241-179 vote. The
measure appears on track to pass the House and Senate this week before
a stopgap spending measure expires Friday at midnight despite
opposition from some of the GOP’s most ardent budget cutters.

The budget deficit is projected at $1.6 trillion this year.


Well, he's not winning and neither is the American public.

Social Security: Whereas

Whereas I am under 50...
Whereas I understand that I will most likely not get any money from
Social Security unless something bad happens...
Whereas I think that people who are receiving Social Security benefits
should continue to receive said benefits because it is wrong to change
their contract...
Whereas congress-criters lack testicular fortitude...

I would support the following measures:

Raising the retirement age to 70.
Immediately refunding 50% of the money that was confiscated from me
under the guise of FICA to let me invest as I wish. This money is now
referred to as "retirement monies".
Allowing me to withdraw the retirement monies, without penalty, at and
after age 60.
Allowing me to invest 20% of money confiscated from me under the guise of FICA.
Providing a tax credit for buying life insurance. This would go to my
heirs to "make up" for possible "loss of monies" from poor investing
and for the equivalent of survivor benefits.
Providing a tax credit for buying long term care insurance.
Providing a tax credit for buying long term disability insurance.

You Can't Handle The Truth

The fact is, you can't handle the truth. By you, I mean the American
populace who regularly votes in local and national elections.

Do you want the truth? I know you don't but I'm going to give it to
you anyway. How you deal with it, or not, is up to you.

The truth is the American public is to blame for the state of American
politics today. We vote for people who promise to use tax payer money

I Hate The MD State Assembly

I hate the Maryland State Assembly.

Around 12:00 PM on Monday, the local news were reporting the bill to
give illegal aliens in-state college tuition rates was said to have
died. I woke up this morning to find out the bill had passed. Even
around 11:00 PM, the bill was considered to have been dead. They had 1
hour to get all bills done and that bill passed.

Let me see if I understand this one. Parents, who have broken the law
by coming here, are allowed to send their children to college in
Maryland, if they lived in Maryland, and receive in state tuition
rates. One legislator said the parents paid taxes using their own tax
identification means, so they should be considered in state. Well, if
the parents used a Social Security card, they committed fraud because
illegal aliens can't get a Social Security card. If they used a tax
identification number (TIN), they broke the law because you have to be
a U.S. citizen, or a legal resident to get a TIN. And, here is the
kicker. If someone is arrested because they sold or brought drugs,
that person can't receive federal funding to attend college. But the
children of illegal immigrants CAN attend college even though the
parents committed fraud and/or identity theft.

Add to that, the raising of car toll fees, car registration fees, home
selling fees, home purchasing fees, increasing the alcohol tax...

They. Suck.

The Prosecution Rests, but I Can’t

The Prosecution Rests, but I Can't

I SPENT 18 years in prison for robbery and murder, 14 of them on death row. I’ve been free since 2003, exonerated after evidence covered up by prosecutors surfaced just weeks before my execution date. Those prosecutors were never punished. Last month, the Supreme Court decided 5-4 to overturn a case I’d won against them and the district attorney who oversaw my case, ruling that they were not liable for the failure to turn over that evidence — which included proof that blood at the robbery scene wasn’t mine.

Because of that, prosecutors are free to do the same thing to someone else today.

H/T: P6

Let Me Understand This

Let me see if I understand this.

The Department of Housing for city of Baltimore, has settled a lot of
lead paint health damage claims for the parents and/or children who
had lead paint poisoning while living in public housing. The
Department of Housing WILLFULLY agreed to settle this cases that went
to court and/or out of court. NOW, according to the current head of
the department of housing, they will not pay any claims because there
is not enough money. The mayor of Baltimore supports the non-payment
by the Department of Housing.

This is the same city that will seize your home and put it up for tax
sale if you owe a water bill of less than $100 and, because of THEIR
mistake, doesn't send you the bill NOR notify you of the pending sale.

The Economy Is Heating Up

The economy must be improving. I've contacted a few contractors to do
some work at my house. They all have promised to send estimates. Quite
a few have not followed through. I remember that happening when the
housing market was hot as was the market for home remodeling.

MD Is Number One In Education

According to Education Week, Maryland is number one in the country in
providing grade school education. This has been true for the past
three years.

Guess what?

Forty-eight percent of incoming freshmen students in Maryland colleges
and universities, needed remedial education in reading and/or math. To
be clear, that's 48% of Maryland(!) incoming students, meaning
students from Maryland who graduated high school.

Think about that one.

The links will be coming later.

America Is On Welfare

When conservative pundits talk about Blacks, at some point a comment
is made that Blacks work disproportionately for the government and
that this is government dependence, just like welfare. Keeping that in
mind, here is an interesting statistic:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704050204576219073867182108.html

If you want to understand better why so many states—from New York to
Wisconsin to California—are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy,
consider this depressing statistic: Today in America there are nearly
twice as many people working for the government (22.5 million) than in
all of manufacturing (11.5 million). This is an almost exact reversal
of the situation in 1960, when there were 15 million workers in
manufacturing and 8.7 million collecting a paycheck from the
government.

It gets worse. More Americans work for the government than work in
construction, farming, fishing, forestry, manufacturing, mining and
utilities combined. We have moved decisively from a nation of makers
to a nation of takers. Nearly half of the $2.2 trillion cost of state
and local governments is the $1 trillion-a-year tab for pay and
benefits of state and local employees. Is it any wonder that so many
states and cities cannot pay their bills?

Every state in America today except for two—Indiana and
Wisconsin—has more government workers on the payroll than people
manufacturing industrial goods.


The bold emphasis is mine. Please note that RED states are also
included in this statistic. That's right, FLY OVER COUNTRY is on
welfare!