Category: Uncategorized

You see this in a lot of places.

“Do you remember when the Panama Papers came out and revealed that the rich all across the world were dodging taxes and literally[sic] nothing happened?”

Government officials that got fired or resigned/things that happened

Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, PM of Iceland

Nawaz Sharif, PM of Pakistan

Gonzalo Delaveu, President of Transparency, Chile

There are more. Look here on Reddit or here at wikipedia more broadly.

Of note is that the way taxes work in the USA, the kind of shell company revealed wasn’t as useful to Americans as to other foreign nationals. Equally significant, the US has criminal protections such as the Fourth Amendment that limit what can be used by prosecutors. Using such evidence isn’t always impossible; it just takes a lot of time and creates a lot of legal hurdles. I think investigations related to international tax dodging should be a higher priority than it is, but the notion that nothing is happening is simply not correct.

“Remember when a bunch of senators profited about the impending coronavirus epidemic and literally[sic] nothing happened?”

Justice Department investigating possible insider trading

Richard Burr seeks ethics investigation regarding insider trading Note: Burr was one of those implicated. He’s seeking an investigation to clear his name.

Also, this happened a few months ago and was revealed due to filings about a month ago. Most law enforcement agencies don’t reveal investigations until they file charges, which is often a matter of months to years. Impatience aside, this is a developing story.

I picked these two instances because both are commonly associated with absolute terms, ‘nothing happened,’ which can be disproven objectively. Things did happen. The more relevant statement, ‘not enough happened,’ is subjective, and one person’s not-enough might be another’s plenty. In the USA, the FBI often takes lead on such matters, but like all government agencies, they have limited budget, staff, and time. I think such issues are more important than playing politics and would prefer the DOJ in general focus on such matters.

Facts:

Ramos was tried and convicted of murder. LA and OR allow for nonunanimous convictions in some serious cases. The jury went 10-2 guilty, and he was sentenced to life without parole.

Today, 4/20/2020, the Supreme Court overruled a 1972 precedent that serious crimes do not require a unanimous conviction, 6-3. Gorsuch wrote for the majority, including RBG, Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Brett Kavanaugh, that the Sixth Amendment requires unanimity. Dissenters were Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan, and John Roberts.

Opinions and observations:

First, those lines have nothing to do with the pop-law territories of conservative vs liberal.

Secondly, the case overturned established precedent.

Third, Louisiana and Oregon are the only states where guilty with a non-unanimous conviction is possible for serious crimes. For lesser crimes, it’s possible lots more places.

I’m really looking forward to reading these opinions.

I want to reemphasize how far that strayed from partisan lines. It’s not one swing vote jumping ship but rather a completely separate breakdown. The Supreme Court is made up of humans, flawed and biased, but they are doing their best. It gives me confidence.

Johnny Watson (SpaceCowboy/GansterOfLove/Maurice)

If you have two characters you really like, make the one you like more the villian.

And the nerds congregated at Microcenter.

Ask me how I know.

I eat too much. Not to argue about details or nutrition, I think we can agree that there is ‘a too much sugar,’ and I eat that much. I stopped on Saturday when I ate all the sweets in the apt. and haven’t had more since.

It is definitely something I notice. In Costco today, I was aware of the chocolate/sugar aisle in an unusual way, and not buying anything was definitely a thing. It was its own action.

You’ve probably seen the meme that says the Post Office would be profitable if not for a requirement that it prepay 75 years of pension obligations. This claim is commonly associated with the year 2006.

This is not true. The USPS does prepay some of its pension obligations through 2056, which is 36 years in the future. That 75 year figure doesn’t seem to come from anywhere. A 2006 bill does apply to the USPS, PAEA. The 75 year figure doesn’t appear directly.

Happy Easter everyone, and stay safe if you’re in the storm path.

My gym is a tiny little thing run by one guy and his wife. They’re not making a fortune, but they were keeping their heads above water. Money was tight.

They just refunded last month’s membership. That has got to be a bear.

My floor isn’t terribly soundproofed, so I don’t want to do jumping/high movement calisthenics or weights. That leaves me with Youtube Yoga. It’s a whole new type of fitness to learn.

At least I’m gaining flexibility.