Trick

Halloween has started, and the first trick of the day is a bit of flim-flam from a group called the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy.
The headline of an article about them in this morning’s Herald online jumped out at me: “Massachusetts teen moms and their kids cost the state $109 million a year in social services.”
Holy moley, $109 million: that translates to almost $24,000 per teen mom, which happens to be about 3 1/2 times the _maximum_ annual welfare benefit in Massachusetts (about $7,000).
Gee, what could possibly be the point of inflating a number by 350%?

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Cross-Endorsement and Question 2

Massachusetts voters have a chance to make cross-party endorsements legal again by voting “yes” on Question 2 this November 7.
If this ballot initiative passes, alternative political parties would have the option to show their support for a major party candidate in general elections.
In other words, the candidate’s name would appear multiple times on the ballot, once for their party and again for any third party that endorses the candidate

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Nice Service

There was some press a while back about manufacturers’ rebates and how many consumers are too lazy or too busy to claim them.
So, I was pleased to see that BJ’s, the membership warehouse retail store, has put together an online service, simple to use, for submitting rebates.
Refreshing, isn’t it, for a retailer – especially one running on slim margins – to have invested resources into building a nice convenience for its customers.

IKEA and Me

I’ve tried – so hard – to buy anything for myself from the local IKEA that costs more than $2.
I’ve purchased furniture and a sundry or two that sit in my grandsons’ room, but haven’t found anything suitable for Inner Keep, and think I’ve figured out why.

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It Was Inevitable

From an article in today’s NY Times:
“India still produces plenty of engineers, nearly 400,000 a year at last count. But their competence has become the issue.
“A study commissioned by a trade group, the National Association of Software and Service Companies, or Nasscom, found only one in four engineering graduates to be employable. The rest were deficient in the required technical skills, fluency in English or ability to work in a team or deliver basic oral presentations.”
The article also states that as a result of this skill shortage, salaries for engineers in India have been increasing at 10-15% per year.