A Michigan jury wiped the smile off Lisa Holland’s face when they found her guilty last Friday of first-degree felony murder and child abuse in the death of her adopted son, Ricky, age 7.
In Michigan, felony murder carries a mandatory life sentence without parole. Formal sentencing is scheduled for November 28.
We Live in a Sigocracy
This from Shanto Iyengar, a Stanford professor, in an interview by the Washington Post on the subject of this year’s negative political ads:
“If you get people disgusted, they might withdraw from politics, and that’s the real goal these days.”
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
An Embarassment
Kerry Healey has been my choice for Massachusetts Governor, but her campaign – and the lack of support from her boss, Mitt Romney – has become a confluence of ineptitude, a confederacy of dunces.
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.
Duh, and Duh Again
This, from this morning’s Cape Cod Times:
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.
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.
Mitt and Gay Marriage
So, our fearless Governor is once again making gay couples his “road to the White House” b
Minnesota Senate Race
It’s been a long, long time, but every so often, there’s a glimmer of hope on the political landscape, and we saw it today on “Meet the Press” in the debate between Minnesota Senatorial candidates Amy Klobuchar (D) and Rep. Mark Kennedy (R).