Flap's Blog – FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

These are my links for April 26th through April 30th:

• Occupy Wall Street plans mass May Day demonstration to shut down NYC – The NYPD is bracing for an attempt by Occupy Wall Street protesters to shut down traffic at arteries across the city during a mass demonstration Tuesday.

  Using websites and pamphlets, OWS organizers are urging people to help block traffic at bridge and tunnel ports to slow people going to work on May Day.

  Protesters — who also plan action in front of several financial buildings — are using the date to strengthen their numbers since the labor movement traditionally holds rallies that day.

  “No work, no school, no shopping, now housework, no compliance,” reads a posting on one OWS-related website. “If you can’t strike call in sick. If you can’t call in sick hold a slow down.”

  Other Occupy websites say protesters will try to blockade city crossings as they did the Brooklyn Bridge in October — when more than 700 people were arrested for marching on the span’s roadway.

  One website also calls for marchers to swarm financial buildings, including the offices of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and the New York Stock Exchange.

  Mayor Bloomberg said the city is prepared to thwart any actions that could cause serious delays in people’s commutes.

  He declined to discuss how authorities have been training to handle any OWS action. But sources said the NYPD conducted a major exercise at Floyd Bennett Field on Wednesday.

• Occupy Wall Street Plans Global Protests in May Day Resurgence – Occupy Wall Street demonstrators, whose anti-greed message spread worldwide during an eight-week encampment in Lower Manhattan last year, plan marches across the globe today calling attention to what they say are abuses of power and wealth.

  Organizers say they hope the coordinated events will mark a spring resurgence of the movement after a quiet winter. Calls for a general strike with no work, no school, no banking and no shopping have sprung up on websites in Toronto, Barcelona, London, Kuala Lumpur and Sydney, among hundreds of cities in North America, Europe and Asia.

  In New York, Occupy Wall Street will join scores of labor organizations observing May 1, traditionally recognized as International Workers’ Day. They plan marches from Union Square to Lower Manhattan and a “pop-up occupation” of Bryant Park on Sixth Avenue, across the street from Bank of America’s Corp.’s 55-story tower.

  “We call upon people to refrain from shopping, walk out of class, take the day off of work and other creative forms of resistance disrupting the status quo,” organizers said in an April 26 e-mail.

  Occupy groups across the U.S. have protested economic disparity, decrying high foreclosure and unemployment rates that hurt average Americans while bankers and financial executives received bonuses and taxpayer-funded bailouts. In the past six months, similar groups, using social media and other tools, have sprung up in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Day By Day April 30, 2012 – Nudge,Nudge – Day By Day April 30, 2012 – Nudge,Nudge
• After Last Night – WH Correspondent’s Dinner – Politically, the most interesting phenomenon last night was the dog jokes. The President himself made three jokes about eating dogs. This represents a victory for new media and especially for Jim Treacher, since liberal news sources like the New York Times and Jon Stewart had studiously tried to pretend that the dog controversy didn’t exist. Obama and Kimmel evidently recognized that Twitter made such pretense impossible. (The New York Times, however, is still holding out.)

  Events like last night’s always leave me feeling in need of a shower. Partly it is because there some truth to Kimmel’s joke, after noting that the room was full of politicians, members of the media and celebrities, that “Everything that is wrong with America is here in this room.” Partly is is due to the sense that everyone involved in the event is pretending. The politicians pretend to engage in self-deprecation that shows they don’t take themselves too seriously. The comics pretend that they are just trying to be funny, lampooning politicians impartially in search of laughs. But, even though some of the lines are indeed funny, the premise of the event is fundamentally false. In fact, politicians, comedians and even the celebrities present are pursuing an agenda that is both self-aggrandizing and political. That is why, I think, such events always leave me feeling unclean.

• The Auto Bailout Bust – President Barack Obama has made the auto bailout a centerpiece of his reelection campaign, using it to bash Republican nominee Mitt Romney. But the tactic may backfire as the general election heats up, public opinion surveys suggest.

  Recent polling from Rasmussen indicates that 59 percent view the bailouts as a “failure” and only 44 percent think the bailouts were “good for America.”

  The administration has already written off $7 billion in taxpayer losses in the American takeover of Chrysler and General Motors; those losses are expected to climb as high as $23 billion—27 percent of the $85 billion spent on the bailout.

  While the bailout is widely credited with saving the two companies, increasing taxpayer losses have made it nearly as unpopular in 2012 as it was when Obama was elected. More than half of Americans still disapprove of the auto bailout compared with 61 percent in 2008.

• On Second Thought, Maybe N.C. Was a Mistake – If national Democratic strategists chose Charlotte, N.C., for the party’s national convention because they liked the facilities, the hotel accommodations or the weather in early September, then I guess I can’t yet quibble with the choice.

  But if David Axelrod and the president’s other political advisers picked the Tar Heel State to make some broader political point, then they goofed.

  Simply put: North Carolina looks like a mess for Democrats.

• Barnes & Noble to spin off digital Nook business, Microsoft will invest $300 million into it | The Verge – RT @verge: Barnes & Noble to spin off digital Nook business, Microsoft will invest $300 million into it
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-04-30 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-04-30
• Untitled (http://getglue.com/Fullosseousflap/stickers/amc/the_killing_openings?s=ts&ref=Fullosseousflap) – I unlocked the The Killing: Openings sticker on @GetGlue!
• Maybe no housing rebound for a generation: Shiller – The Housing market is likely to remain weak and may take a generation or more to rebound, Yale economics professor Robert Shiller told Reuters Insider on Tuesday.

  Shiller, the co-creator of the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index, said a weak labor market, high gas prices and a general sense of unease among consumers was outweighing low mortgage rates and would likely keep a lid on prices for the foreseeable future.

• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Day By Day April 29, 2012 – Man of Steal – Day By Day April 29, 2012 – Man of Steal
• Sweet revenge: Dentist pulls ALL of ex-boyfriend’s teeth out after getting dumped  – NY Daily News – Sweet revenge: Dentist pulls ALL of ex-boyfriend’s teeth out after getting dumped  – NY Daily News
• Sweet revenge: Dentist pulls ALL of ex-boyfriend’s teeth out after getting dumped  – NY Daily News – Sweet revenge: Dentist pulls ALL of ex-boyfriend’s teeth out after getting dumped  – NY Daily News
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-04-29 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-04-29
• Sweet revenge: Dentist pulls ALL of ex-boyfriend’s teeth out after getting dumped  – NY Daily News – Sweet revenge: Dentist pulls ALL of ex-boyfriend’s teeth out after getting dumped 
• Sweet revenge: Dentist pulls ALL of ex-boyfriend’s teeth out after getting dumped  – Revenge is a dish best served with novocaine.

  A dentist in Poland, dumped by her boyfriend, got payback by removing all of her former lover’s teeth — leading his new lady to dump him, too.

  Anna Mackowiak could face three years in jail after she agreed to treat her ex-boyfriend, Marek Olszewski, when he asked her to help with a toothache just days after he broke up with her.

  “I tried to be professional and detach myself from my emotions,” Mackowiak, 34, told the Daily Mail. “But when I saw him lying there I just thought, ‘What a bastard.’”

  Mackowiak then allegedly gave Olszewski, 45, a massive dose of anaesthetic and coldly plucked out his teeth one by one.

  She then wrapped his jaw in bandages to prevent him from opening his mouth — and then simply walked away.

  “I knew something was wrong because when I woke up I couldn’t feel any teeth and my jaw was strapped up with bandages,” Olszewski told the British newspaper.

  But he did not realize the horror of what happened until he got back to his Wroclaw apartment.

• Political Cartoons / Obama is just too cool….. – Obama is just too cool…..
• Amazon Softens Stance on Taxes – Amazon.com Inc. reached an agreement with Texas officials Friday to begin collecting sales taxes in the state starting in July and appears to be backing away from its long-held opposition to tax collection in states where it has warehouses and other facilities.
  With the deal, the Seattle-based company is on track to collect sales taxes in 12 states, which make up about 40% of the U.S. population, by 2016. Amazon currently collects taxes in five states. Since 2011, it has reached agreements with seven other states, including Texas, to begin tax collection over the next four years.
• “Amazon tax” struck down in Illinois in boost for affiliates – GeekWire – “Amazon tax” struck down in Illinois in boost for affiliates
• Amazon settles with Texas over sales tax – Amazon has reached another settlement over state taxes, this time with Texas.

  Reuters reports that the giant e-tailer will start collecting sales tax in Texas come July 1, as part of a settlement that requires Amazon to bring 2,500 jobs and $200 million in capital investment to the state over the next four years.

  In exchange for the jobs and money, Texas State Comptroller Susan Combs is dropping the state’s demand for $269 million to cover sales taxes from 2005 to 2009, Reuters reports.

  Amazon struck a deal with the state of Nevada earlier in the week whereby it will begin collecting sales taxes there on January 1, 2014. It also reached an agreement with California last September that gave it another year before it has to begin collecting sales taxes in that state.

  Things went the other way in Illinois yesterday, when a judge there called unconstitutional a law designed to let the state collect sales tax from out-of-state, online retailers.

• “Amazon tax” struck down in Illinois in boost for affiliates – The state of Illinois has lost a lawsuit against the state’s attempt to collect sales tax from out-of-state, online retailers — a law often called the “Amazon tax.”

  The Performance Marketing Association, which represents affiliate marketers such as those working with Amazon, had challenged the 2011 law that created the Illinois Affiliate Nexus Tax. A Cook County Circuit judge ruled the law unconstitutional because, according to Crain’s Chicago Business, “simply having an affiliated company in the state that makes sales or refers customers to an online retailer doesn’t create enough of a presence, or nexus, for tax purposes.”

  The judge also said the law was unenforceable because of a federal Internet tax moratorium that is in place through 2014.

• Gregory Flap @ Ronnie’s Diner – foursquare – 8 miler in the books. Now at Ronnie’s with Alice and Nancy (@ Ronnie’s Diner)
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-04-28 – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2012-04-28
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » IN-Sen: Sarah Palin Endorses Richard Mourdock – IN-Sen: Sarah Palin Endorses Richard Mourdock
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Day By Day April 27, 2012 – Fantasy Friday-Public Served – Day By Day April 27, 2012 – Fantasy Friday-Public Served
• CA-26: NRCC gives 3 ‘contender’ status – The National Republican Congressional Committee has given three GOP House challengers “contender” status, the third out of four steps in the “Young Guns” program to recruit new and viable Republican candidates.

  Republicans Tony Strickland in California, Jason Plummer in Illinois and Matt Doheny in New York were all elevated to the next level of the program Thursday.

  The candidates will face new benchmarks for fundraising and recruiting before attaining “Young Guns” status.

• CA-26: Dog Is as Dog Does – How a live-free-or-die dude like Strickland came to be a born-again Nanny State zealot, however, is not so mysterious. It turns out he’s now running for a congressional seat in Ventura, and his chief Democratic rival, Julia Brownley, led the charge to ban plastic bags statewide while in the Assembly. Not only that, but Brownley is now pushing a much softer and kinder bill to define what constitutes a reusable bag. Brownley’s bill would require such bags be strong enough to carry 22 pounds more than 100 times for a distance of 175 feet. Rather than require a warning label designed to scare off possible users, Brownley’s bill would mandate bags to come with a tag identifying its country of origin and stating no lead, cadmium, other toxic heavy metals designed to sap one’s wits were used in its manufacture.

  Just remember there are 41 shopping days left between now and the June primary. I’ll do my part by shopping with a cross-contaminated, lead-based bag. You can spot me huffing by the broccoli section at Trader Joe’s. Please do not disturb. I already am.

• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » CA-26: Linda Parks and Her Cable Television ONLY Campaign Strategy – CA-26: Linda Parks and Her Cable Television ONLY Campaign Strategy
• Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » The Morning Flap: April 26, 2012 – The Morning Flap: April 26, 2012

Tags: Amazon, Amazon_Tax, Brownley, CA-26, Democrats, Dentistry, Economy, Housing, Kimmel, Obama, Occupy, Pinboard Links, Strickland, The Morning Flap

These are my links for November 4th.

• Stroke Damage to Insular Cortex Boosts Smoking Cessation- Smokers who suffer a stroke that causes a lesion at the insular cortex are more than 5 times more likely to stop their nicotine habit than those whose stroke did not result in such a lesion, according to a new study.In addition, the researchers found that preparedness to change also influenced successful smoking cessation poststroke.

  The study results were not surprising, given that research has already shown that biological and psychological factors help explain smoking cessation in patients with stroke, said the study’s lead author, Rosa Su?er Soler, PhD, from the Neurology Department, Josep Trueta Hospital, Girona, Spain.

  Biologically, the insular cortex may play an important role in emotional decision-making, and in terms of psychology, smoking behavior may be explained by stages, processes, and levels of change, Dr. Su?er told Medscape Medical News. “Before you stop smoking, you must be aware that you have a problem and take the decision to stop smoking.”

  The study was published online November 3 in Stroke.

• Vaccination Exemptions Rise in California Amid Concerns- Increasing rates of unvaccinated young children with “personal belief exemptions” from vaccination requirements are becoming worrisome, according to research presented here at the American Public Health Association (APHA) 139th Annual Meeting.Recent concern about vaccine safety appears to be gaining strength, and state regulations requiring parents to vaccinate their children before they can attend public schools vary. In California, obtaining a personal belief exemption could not be easier — parents are only required to sign their name to a 2-sentence standard exemption statement on the back of the vaccination requirement form.

  In evaluating data on the rates of exemptions from the California Department of Public Health, the state’s Department of Education and the US Census, researchers found that in 2010, the state had about 11,500 kindergartners with personal belief exemptions, representing a 25% increase over the previous 2 years.

  The increasing rate indicates that, for kindergartners who have adhered to vaccination schedules, exposure to children with personal belief exemptions is about 2.3 per 100 children.

  Because children with the exemptions tend to be found in clusters, the rate of children with exemptions who are exposed to other children who also have exemptions — a higher-risk combination — was 15.6 per 100 in 2010, said lead author Alison Buttenheim, PhD, MBA, from the University of Pennsylvania’s Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholars Program in Philadelphia.

  “The average kindergartner with a personal belief exemption attends a school where the exemption rate is 15 per 100, and we see that figure increasing all the time,” she reported.

  Previous data from the fall of 2008 showed that 10% of the nearly half-million kindergartners in California attended schools where personal belief exemption rates exceeded 5%, and as many as 61% of kindergartners with 1 or more personal belief exemptions (n = 9196) attended schools where the personal exemption rate exceeded 5%. Among those, a third attended schools where the personal belief exemption rate exceeded 20%.

  In a separate study conducted by the same team, the researchers investigated the concerns that parents have about vaccines by evaluating data on the specific vaccines received by 168 patients at a pediatric practice in Philadelphia where the practitioner, though pro-vaccine, is known to accommodate parents who seek alternative vaccination options.

• Sales Taxes and the Internet- Online commerce is a big, big business, accounting for nearly one-tenth of retail sales in the United States. It is a lively and growing sector, a bright spot in our troubled economy — thus the gloomy shadow of the taxman inevitably falls upon it, in the form of a bill proposed by Republican senators Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. A similar bill was proposed by Democratic senator Dick Durbin of Illinois earlier in the year, and a separate effort is afoot to have the so-called supercommittee institute new Internet-tax measures as part of its deficit-reduction plan.But it’s not all about big business: The Enzi-Alexander bill would affect entrepreneurs with as little as $500,000 a year in sales.

  Contrary to most accounts, there is no sales-tax loophole for online retailers. Customers who buy goods online are in most cases required to pay a “use tax” equivalent to the sales tax they would have paid in a conventional transaction. The problem, from the tax-consumers’ point of view, is that most taxpayers do not comply with the law. The state and local governments that depend upon sales-tax revenue protest that they are strapped for cash. That isn’t entirely true, either: Those jurisdictions are spending more money than ever, most of it on salaries and benefits for the legion of bureaucrats and commissars they maintain.

  But in spite of their swollen payrolls and work forces, state and local governments apparently cannot be bothered to hire tax agents in sufficient numbers, thus the now universal practice of their requiring businesses to do their sales-tax collecting for them. The Internet-tax measures under consideration would not expand governments’ power to tax, but its power to conscript businesses into acting as tax collectors.

  The original sin here is government’s delegating its tax-collecting duties to private businesses. If government wishes to levy a tax, let it do the work of collecting it. It is true that this would prove burdensome to cities and states. It is also burdensome to the conscripted businesses. The difference is that collecting taxes is government’s duty, not Amazon’s.

• Stu’s Dangerous Dozen: Unsafe House Incumbents – Dan Lungren (R-Calif.). Another election means another problem for Lungren, who somehow wins despite his reluctance to raise money. He will be running in a 46 percent McCain district this time, compared with the 48 percent McCain district he ran in last time, but he also will draw the same opponent, Ami Bera. Bera, a doctor who raises money nationally from Indian-Americans, ran a competitive race in a terrible year for a Democrat, so he hopes the better environment will help him close the 7-point gap he had in 2010.
• GOP Candidate Beats Obama in Swing States on Jobs, Deficit – Voters in 12 key swing states are substantially more likely to feel that a generic “Republican candidate” for president would do a better job than President Obama of handling the federal deficit and debt, and are slightly more likely to prefer the Republican on the issue of unemployment. Swing-state voters are split on the question of whether Obama or the Republican candidate would do a better job of handing healthcare as well as terrorism and international threats.
• Colgate recalls mouthwash over contamination fears- Colgate-Palmolive is removing up to 50,000 bottles of Periogard mouthwash from store shelves in the U.K. due to possible bacterial contamination.The micro-organisms may be harmful to some people with weakened immune systems or some lung conditions, according to the company.

  Up to 11 other countries, including some where the product has a different brand name, are also involved in the recall of 300-mL containers containing chlorhexidine.

  “The presence of micro-organisms has been detected in some retained production samples of Periogard,” Colgate-Palmolive said in a statement. “Under certain circumstances, these micro-organisms may be harmful to individuals with compromised health. Accordingly, in order to ensure the safety of our consumers, in cooperation with the Medicine and Health Regulatory Authority, Colgate-Palmolive UK is recalling all Periogard.”

• ADA updates guidelines for managing ONJ risk patients- A patient receiving antiresorptive therapy for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis has a low risk of developing osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ), and benefits of the medication outweigh the risk of ONJ, according to an advisory statement from the ADA.The statement, “Managing the Care of Patients Receiving Antiresorptive Therapy for Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis,” is based on a literature review by an advisory committee of the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs and updates ADA’s 2008 advisory statement (Journal of the American Dental Association, November 2011, Vol. 142:11, pp. 1243-1251).

  ONJ associated with antiresorptive agents has mostly been referred to as bisphosphonate-associated ONJ, but nonbisphosphonate antiresorptive agents are now available that also could be associated with ONJ, the panel noted. That is why they refer to the condition as antiresorptive agent-induced ONJ (ARONJ).

  A relatively new condition, bisphosphonate-associated ONJ, has received tremendous media attention because of a flurry of lawsuits against the makers of Fosamax and Zometa alleging that the medications led to ONJ.

  These lawsuits have been a factor in raising patients’ and dentists’ awareness of the condition, according to Helen Ristic, PhD, director of scientific information for the ADA’s Division of Science and one of the panelists who contributed to the report.

• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Targets California GOP Representatives With Ad Campaign » Flap’s California Blog – Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Targets California GOP Representatives With Ad Campaign
• Flap’s Dentistry Blog: Do Those Wisdom Teeth REALLY Need to Come Out? – Do Those Wisdom Teeth REALLY Need to Come Out?
• The Afternoon Flap: November 4, 2011 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – The Afternoon Flap: November 4, 2011 #tcot #catcot
• Cain accuser stands by sexual harassment complaint – CNN.com – Cain accuser stands by sexual harassment complaint

Tags: #catcot, #tcot, ADA, Amazon_Tax, Bara, California, Colgate, Fosamax, GOP, Internet, Lungren, Obama, ONJ, Periogard, Pinboard Links, Polling, Sales_Tax, Smoking, Stroke, Taxes, Vaccination

These are my links for August 4th through August 11th:

• Disgruntled Entrepreneur Erica Douglass Writes Goodbye Letter To California – Entrepreneur Erica Douglass loves California in many ways, but the young entrepreneur says she's leaving it for a city with a much fairer startup climate (yup, Austin, Texas). She explained her move via a mock breakup letter with the Golden State that she posted on her blog.
  First a bit of background on Douglass: In 2007, when she was just 26, she sold the Web hosting company she created six years earlier for $1.1 million. She has since co-founded Whoosh Traffic, a website design firm, and started a blog, Erica.biz to help other entrepreneurs get started.
  Last Thursday, Douglass, who has lived in California for 12 years, used her Erica.biz platform to announce that she was leaving the beaches, sunshine and laid-back atmosphere of San Diego to move to Austin, Texas, because her adopted state has become inhospitable for business people like herself. Austin, incidentally, seems to get nothing but kudos as a place for small businesses and for young professionals.
  And as she packs up to move away, others are taking notice, continuing to comment on her post nearly a week later, and cheering her on for making the decision to change her location. What's inspiring so many people?
  Here are some highlights from the young entrepreneur's letter, "Dear California: I’m Leaving You. Here’s Why."

  =====

  Read it all

• foursquare – Leaving soon for Thousand Oaks. Good Bye Las Vegas until October (@ Harrah's Las Vegas)
• @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-11 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-11 #tcot #catcot
• foursquare – Just finished playing 3 hours of cash games = / (@ Harrah's Poker Room)
• foursquare – Continuing to shop (@ Wynn Las Vegas w/ 8 others)
• foursquare – Shopping after dinner (@ The Grand Canal Shoppes)
• foursquare – Dinner with gang at buffet (@ Harrah's Las Vegas w/ 3 others)
• foursquare – Time for a rest period before tonight's final party (@ Harrah's Las Vegas w/ 5 others)
• foursquare – Lunch with Mary, Tara, Alice and Nancy (@ Cancun Resort) [pic]:
• @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-10 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-10 #tcot #catcot
• @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-09 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-09 #tcot #catcot
• foursquare – Dinner (@ Rio Hotel & Casino w/ 9 others)
• foursquare – Time for a midday nap (@ Harrah's Las Vegas w/ 6 others)
• foursquare – Shopping with Alice, Nancy and Tara (@ Las Vegas Premium Outlets – South)
• foursquare – I just unlocked the "Explorer" badge on @foursquare!
• foursquare – Back from the almost five mile run down the strip towards Mandalay Bay. (@ Harrah's Poker Room)
• foursquare – Off soon for a 3-4 mile run at sunrise (@ Harrah's Las Vegas)
• foursquare – I just unlocked the "Super User" badge on @foursquare!
• foursquare – I'm at Imperial Palace Hotel And Casino (3535 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas)
• foursquare – I just unlocked the "Crunked" badge on @foursquare!
• foursquare – Nancy playing the slots in Bellagio (@ Bellagio Poker Room) [pic]:
• foursquare – With the RW/5 gang (@ Bellagio Hotel & Casino w/ 4 others)
• foursquare – With Alice, Tara and Nancy (@ Caesars Palace Hotel & Casino w/ 8 others) [pic]:
• foursquare – About to play the 3 pm tournament (@ Harrah's Poker Room)
• foursquare

  :: Harrah’s Poker Room
  :: Las Vegas, Nevada – I just ousted @yesmynameis_ash as the mayor of Harrah's Poker Room on @foursquare!

• foursquare – On a stroll and shopping (@ Caesars Palace Hotel & Casino w/ 3 others)
• @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-08 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-08 #tcot #catcot
• Day By Day August 7, 2011 – In Vino Veritas | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day August 7, 2011 – In Vino Veritas #tcot #catcot
• foursquare – Finished about 12 miles. At finish about 87. Kind of hot to run. Now a nap (@ Harrah's Poker Room)
• foursquare – Off soon for an easy 12.5 miles along the Las Vegas strip. Temps in low 80's (@ Harrah's Poker Room)
• @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-07 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-07 #tcot #catcot
• foursquare – Yum! Chocolate (@ Max Brenner)
• foursquare – Resting before dessert at Chocolate by the Bald Man at Caesars (@ Harrah's Poker Room)
• foursquare – About 88 players at day 1b of Epic Poker League including Greg Rather (@ Epic Poker League At The Palms) [pic]:
• foursquare – But first, a movie – Planet of the Apes (@ Epic Poker League At The Palms)
• @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-06 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-06 #tcot #catcot
• foursquare – Going to see a lot of me here this week. Off to Palms and ESL and dinner (@ Harrah's Poker Room)
• foursquare – You betcha (@ Vegas, baby!)
• foursquare – Almost to Vegas (@ Nevada State Line)
• foursquare – Pit stop on way to Vegas (@ Starbucks w/ 2 others)
• Day By Day August 5, 2011 – Over the Bus | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Day By Day August 5, 2011 – Over the Bus #tcot #catcot
• @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-05 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – @Flap Twitter Updates for 2011-08-05 #tcot #catcot
• Flap’s Links and Comments for August 2nd through August 4th | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for August 2nd through August 4th #tcot #catcot

Tags: #catcot, #tcot, Amazon_Tax, Internet_Sales_Taxes, Pinboard Links

These are my links for July 13th from 16:06 to 16:22:

• Coburn may return to Senate’s ‘Gang of 6′ – Sen. Tom Coburn said Wednesday that he may rejoin the so-called Gang of Six, the bipartisan band of senators seeking to reach agreement on a big deficit-cutting deal that would blend spending cuts with a tax code overhaul.
  The Oklahoma Republican dropped out of the group two months ago saying Democrats weren't willing to cut enough spending from programs like Medicare. He says he may rejoin the group depending on how it responds to ideas he's sent over. The closely watched group has been working for months in hopes of a bipartisan deficit-cutting deal that might gain momentum despite the partisanship consuming Capitol Hill.
  Asked about rumors he's thinking of rejoining the group, Coburn said: "They're not rumors." But he said he doesn't know whether he will in fact return and that it would depend on how the group reacts to some ideas he's sent over.
  "We'll see" about rejoining the group, Coburn said. "I floated a couple of things. Let's see how they're responded to."
• How are those debt talks going? – Badly – There are, I think, three likely outcomes. One is that Obama blinks on taxes, as he did in last year’s lame duck session. I rate the chances of that happening as slim. The second is that we hit “default” and everyone scrambles for a few days to, yes, get the Social Security checks out. Everyone is shaken and there is that “grand compromise.” I put the likelihood of that at close to zero. And finally, there is some other variation (McConnell’s or another backup plan) that avoids a default and does not force Republicans to vote for tax hikes. That seems the most likely for now.

  The real solution is for the voters to participate in a great referendum. More government and tax hikes or less government and no tax hikes? That’s what the 2012 election will be about.

  ======

  The GOP House should pass a 3 or 6 month all cuts budget deal raising the debt ceiling and force the Senate to filibuster or Obama to veto it.

• Amazon Tax Referendum Filed – With the state budget not yet two weeks old, the first of what could be multiple challenges to its underpinning policies has been issued: a petition for the voters to overturn the new law requiring sales tax collection from online purchases.
  A formal request for a referendum on ABx 28 was filed with the office of Attorney General Kamala Harris on Friday afternoon by lobbyist Charles Halnan.

  Halnan lobbies for, among other companies, Amazon.

  The state constitution requires backers of a referendum to gather, within 90 days, voter signatures equaling five percent of the total vote in the most recent gubernatorial election. That looks to be about 504,000 signatures once the petition is cleared by the AG.

  Of course, one question raised during last year's debate over Proposition 25 was whether a budget-related bill like this one is eligible for a referendum. Before Prop 25, budget-related bills were generally seen as not eligible, given that they were approved by a supermajority and given that they took effect immediately. For those who would construe that to be synonymous with an "urgency" statute, the constitution would seem to say it's not eligible. But others will no doubt say that these aren't synonymous. A clarification by the courts may be needed on this one.

• New GOP honcho Carly Fiorina is "focused on 2012,” but on future run for office? "Never say never" – Among the topics she addressed in conversation with the Chronicle:

  *On Republicans' shot at taking back control of the Senate:"It's a very achievable goal. It's one we have to work hard towards. The Democrats have more seats to defend than we do..and many of the seats in 2012 cycle are in states Barack Obama lost." While Republicans "have challenges,'' Democrats have more challenges, she said.

  *On the GOP anti-tax agenda, in California and nationally: "I think Republicans are on very solid ground to say that tax increases are bad for job creation. Everyone agreed with that just six months ago. President Obama was against raising taxes; the Democrats were…Bill Clinton has said the corporate tax rate was too high.'' The bottom line: "You can't raise taxes in the middle of an economic recession….there are only two things you can do during a budget crisis — cut spending, and grow the economy."

  *On raising the debt ceiling: "It's important that the U.S. government not default on its obligation. It's equally important that we put in place a set of longterm solutions that restore accountability and fiscal responsibility in Washington and that create the environment where businesses can grow."

  *On the "stark" differences between the messages of the two parties: "The Republican agenda is fundamentally different from the Democratic agenda…first, Republicans want to decentralize power, Democrats want to centralize it and they want to centralize it in Washington. Republicans generally will put their faith in the individual; Democrats will put it in an institution. Republicans will favor job creators and Democrats will favor government agencies."

  *On her own future in politics: "I'm focused on 2012 and helping other people win….(but) never say never….I've said from the moment that (my) campaign finished, I enjoyed every minute of it. I don't have a bad taste in my mouth. I had a wonderful experience, and I'm proud of the campaign we ran."

Tags: Amazon_Tax, Coburn, Debt-Limit, Fiorina, McConnell, Obama, Pinboard Links

These are my links for July 13th from 11:02 to 11:24:

• Mandatory E-Verify Will Devastate California Agriculture group claims? – Uh No… – A new report released today from America’s Voice highlights the fact that mandatory E-Verify legislation being pushed by a number of California Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives would impose new burdens on American workers and businesses, devastate California’s agriculture industry, and further their Party’s political problem with Latino voters.

  According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, “What is it about the California GOP that they would gladly burden small businesses with new costs and regulations, cripple their home state’s agriculture industry, tie up job seekers in mountains of red tape, and remove billions of dollars in revenue from the federal tax coffers – all for a forced E-Verify program that doesn’t even work half the time?  One would assume the answer is politics.  But in this case, the politics of this issue are working against the California Republicans, as bill co-sponsors like Brian Bilbray (R-CA), Elton Gallegly (R-CA), and Dan Lungren (R-CA) are threatening their own political careers while ensuring that the California Republican Party continues to have problems with Latino voters.”

  Among the key report findings:

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  Read all of the rest of the foolishness……

  E-Verify will start to eliminate the jobs magnet of illegal immigration.

  It won't pass the Senate this year because the Democrats are dependent upon the Hispanic vote to win elections, especially Obama's re-election in 2012.

  But, it will force California big business agriculture to hire legal workers or to mechanize their fields instead of dumping the social costs of illegal immigration on taxpayers.

  The report is laughable as if this far left immigration group cares about the California GOP and GOP Congressman who will probably retire in the near future anyway.

• ‘Amazon tax’ deserves a ‘no’ vote – State Controller John Chiang reported Monday that California received $351 million less in May and June than politicians allowed for in the budget signed two weeks ago. No wonder legislators scramble to wrench cash from out-of-state companies.
  News reports say Amazon also is likely to fight the California tax in court as unconstitutional, but a ballot measure works more quickly. As soon as the referendum is approved for the ballot, it will suspend the online tax, pending the vote.
  Amazon and other out-of-state online retailers canceled contracts with thousands of California-based affiliates when the law went into effect June 29. "Each termination represents lost jobs and lost income for California – losses that could have been easily avoided had the governor and Legislature exercised a little common sense," said George Runner, a member of the tax-collecting agency the Board of Equalization. "Clearly, the 'Amazon tax' is not working."
  The Amazon tax must go. Legislators also should consider the economy-boosting benefits of abolishing all sales taxes, which would give consumers nearly 10-percent discounts across the board and stimulate commerce. Then, legislators should scale back state spending accordingly. More unjust taxes are not the answer to California's economic woes, or to the state's budgetary problems.

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  Read it all

  Absolutely correct….

Tags: Amazon_Tax, E-Verify, Gallegly, Pinboard Links

These are my links for June 20th through June 24th:

• eBay leery of ‘Amazon tax’ – California lawmakers thought they were targeting Amazon.com, the out-of-state giant, when they voted last week to force Internet retailers to collect sales tax.
  It turns out eBay Inc., California’s own golden child of e-commerce, isn’t so thrilled about it, either.

  The San Jose online auction company says the legislation would hurt its business model, which relies on thousands of entrepreneurs who sell goods on its site.

  The intent may have been to go after Amazon, but “we’re literally caught in the crossfire,” said David London, senior director for state government relations at eBay.

  And they say it was written in a way to prevent any harm to eBay.

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  Yeah right…..this tax is a lose- lose for California

• Amazon Tax: Tax inequity – California’s attempt to corral more revenue from Internet sales would address a real inequity, but the effort could just as easily harm as help the state. A disjointed, state-by-state approach to collecting online sales taxes will not work. Congress needs to provide a comprehensive national solution instead.

  The budget plan the Legislature passed last week included a bill designed to boost sales tax collection by Internet retailers. The bill, ABx1 28, would generate an estimated $200 million a year for the state’s deficit-ridden general fund. And the legislation would ease the competitive advantage distant online sellers have over in-state retailers. While Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the main budget bill last week, the online sales tax legislation remains alive.

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  Read it all

Tags: #catcot, #tcot, Amazon_Tax, Pinboard Links

These are my links for March 10th from 14:55 to 15:21:

• The Amazon Tax: Repeated attempts to boost sales tax collections hurt California’s economy, cost jobs – They’re at it again.
  Lawmakers in California, in a desperate attempt to generate revenues are again seeking to force out-of-state retailers to collect taxes for online purchases made by California shoppers. If they are successful in passing this legislation, not only will they fail to raise even one more nickel in tax revenue, they will cost the state thousands of jobs.
  It’s a bit complicated, but allow me to explain: California has a cutting edge industry of Internet entrepreneurs called “affiliates.” You’ve seen “affiliates” while surfing the web: blogs and Websites that provide “click through” ads to online retailers. If you click through and make a purchase, the affiliate gets a small percentage in payment from the retailer.
  According to the Performance Marketing Association, there are nearly 25,000 California-based affiliate businesses that provide information to California consumers and improve the ease and thrift of their shopping experience online or with remote retailers and their catalogs.
  One example of a successful California affiliate is Ebates, a company based in San Francisco. Without affiliate relationships, Internet entrepreneurs like Ebates will face a painful choice: Cut jobs to keep costs in line with reduced revenue or move out of California to more welcoming states. Either way, California will lose jobs and taxes.
  Affiliates like Ebates can conduct business from any state in the country, but they are choosing to make California home. Likewise, online retailers choose to market their products through affiliates like Ebates because they help make the shopping experience for their customers easier.

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  Read it all.

• Untitled (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-turn/2011/03/presidential_candidates_staffi.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter) – President 2012: Presidential candidates staffing up in Iowa
• So unfav: Palin’s poll plunge – Andy Barr – POLITICO.com – So unfav? Sarah Palin's poll plunge – Bloomberg Poll is Crap
• YouTube
  – sara evans headliner 2 – I liked a YouTube video — sara evans headliner 2

Tags: Amazon_Tax, Internet_Taxes