laws – Observations Along the Road

userpic=lougrant Today’s collection of lunchtime news chum brings together a number of articles all connected through a great city and great country, in fact, a Great Britain….

Underground Anniversary. As this is the 150th anniversary of the London Underground, there are loads and loads of articles being written about the service. One in particular caught my eye (not surprisingly): An article from The Atlantic on how the London Underground map has changed over the years. But wait, there’s more! Two additional things. First, the Underground is well known for its escalators. Escalators are a plague for many an underground railway, so here’s an article about all the work BART is doing to maintain its escalators. Secondly, given my love of maps, you know I can’t stop at one. Here’s a neat map of the San Fernando Valley from 1924. Note what is there… and what isn’t.
Good British Food. EaterLA alerted me to an article in the Burger Business blog that asked the question, “What is a Pub Burger?” After all, more and more restaurants are trying to attract patrons by serving burgers supposedly similar to those sold in English pubs. So what are they? The conclusion. Pub burgers are… trendy. I actually chuckled at the one comment, “I don’t know why you would want to copy English pub burgers, as on the whole they are cheap, overcooked rubbish.” But wait, there’s more! The same EaterLA post also alerted me to a fascinating article about a restaurant that serves burgers: A tell-all from a Hooters waitress about what it is really like working there.
It’s More Complicated… A hat tip to Andrew Ducker for this one… A very interesting article on all the implications of the proposed change to royal succession in Britain to permit the eldest daughter to assume the throne before a younger son. There are profound and far reaching changes, including the ability to marry Catholics and changes to some of England’s oldest laws. But wait, there’s more! In another story about needing to change an old law to reflect modern times, an 1872 law in California will likely be changed because it only recognizes rape for married women. According to this law, as interpreted by the judge, if a man impersonates a husband and rapes the wife, it is legally rape, but if they aren’t married and he is impersonating the boyfriend, it isn’t.

It’s Friday. Time to clear out the miscellaneous stuff from the links over lunch:

Taxing Items. A few items that may affect you with respect to taxes and law changes. First, if you have a business with over 200-plus credit or debit card transactions totaling $20,000 or more in 2011, there’s a new form you have to file. It is a 1099-K, “Merchant Card and Third Party Network Payment”, and needs to be sent by people who sell on eBay, Etsy and Amazon Marketplace as well as brick-and-mortar retailers that accept credit card and debit card payments. Second, if you live in California, the deductibility of property tax payments is changing: starting in 2013, you can no longer deduct Mello-Roos feels or any other special assessments like vector control or mosquito abatement. Lastly, the rules for all those power adapters you have are changing: new energy efficiency standards will come into play in 2013 to reduce “vampire” power use.
Health Concerns. Two health concern articles of interest. The WSJ is reporting on the health risks of being left-handed. This is of interest to me, as I’m a naturally sinister person. Another article looks at the stress risks of lots and lots of AP courses, and proposes a cap on the number that can be taken. As the parent of a teen who has taken lots of AP classes each year, they forgot the stress on the parent of the teen becoming even crazier.
Closing the Book. Alas, I must report another bookstore closure. Samuel French, a theatre bookstore is the Valley, is consolidating operations with its Hollywood store. I can’t say I’ve ever been there, but it sounds like an interesting place.
Laws We Don’t Need. I always find it amazing that as much as people want fewer laws and fewer government intrusions, when they don’t like something, they want the government to stop it. Case in point: A lawmaker in Shreveport LA wants a law to make wearing pajama pants in public illegal. This is the same thing as legislating morality–it’s not the government’s place. Another example: Obama is proposing to streamline government by consolidating agencies and making things more efficient with respect to trade and commerce. In general, I think this is a good idea, but I’m wary of anything that threatens the Commerce Department, as it is home to one of my favorite agencies (which does great stuff): NIST (and in particular, the Computer Security Division). Yet to read the comments on the posts (1, 2) reporting on the proposal, you would come to the conclusion that such consolidation is a bad thing (at least when proposed by Obama).

Music: Fairport Chronicles (Fairport Convention): Bridge Over the River Ash

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Tag: laws

British News Chum…. But Wait, There’s More!

Friday Link Stew: Tax Changes, Health Concerns, a Bookstore Lost, and Responses to Things