THE SUPREMES, THE SCHOOL, THE STRIP SEARCH AND THE TEENAGER
On Tuesday the US Supreme Court will hear a case of a then Arizona 13-year-old, Savana Redding (she is now 19) who was accused by another middle-schooler of hiding some prescription strength ibuprofen. School officials searched Savana’s backpack and found nothing, so they ordered her into the nurses office and told her to take off her clothes. (They never did find any pills.)
The Supremes will decide if the search violated Savana’s Constitutional rights. Sunday’s LA Times has this. And today’s NY Times editorial has this to say.
In California and six other states, strip-searches of students are not permitted.
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR 401K…IT’S GONE
We know that Americans’ 401(k)s have gone way down. Tens of millions have lost 30 to 50 percent of their retirement funds. We assume that the 401(k) drops have simply been a product of the drops in the stock market.
But Sunday’s 60 Minutes suggests that the reality is worse than we knew. According to 60 Minutes, “…rhere has been a raid on the 401Ks by the people of Wall Street.” For one thing, there have been huge fees snatched from the funds that can eat up a full half of the profits.
And there’s more.
Check here for the details.
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SHERIFF BACA TO DEPUTIES: “DON’T DRINK AND PACK
Word is that Sheriff Baca is about to go ahead with his plan to forbid off duty sheriff’s from carrying guns if they go out drinking and their blood alcohol level is at .08 or above.
Well, duh.
The deputies union has been fighting this from the get go. But the Sheriff points out that .08 is the state legal limit for driving a car. I’d been hearing about this for quite some time. I’m glad it’s finally coming to a head.
The LA Times has a sensible editorial on the subject. And here’s Richard Winton’s article on the restriction, written when the idea was first floated.
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COLUMBINE, 10 YEARS LATER
Monday is the 10th anniversary of the Columbine school shootings in which 12 kids and a teacher were killed.
I’m reading Dave Cullen’s Columbine, the just-released harrowing and brilliantly researched book on the subject that suggests that much of what we believed about the Columbine massacre is wrong. Here’s the NPR story on the book and the tragedy.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR 401K…IT’S GONE
Investment warning in 1 minute and 45 seconds.
The Importance of Saving Money
Stan takes his $100 check and makes an investment into South Park Bank. Annndd it’s gone.
Prank Stripping
The strip search prank call scam was a series of incidents occurring for roughly a decade before an arrest was made in 2004. These incidents involved a man calling a restaurant or grocery store, claiming to be a police detective, and convincing managers to conduct strip searches of female employees or perform other unusual acts on behalf of the police. The calls were usually placed to fast-food restaurants in small rural towns.
Over 70 such occurrences were reported in 30 U.S. states, until an incident in 2004 in Mt. Washington, Kentucky finally led to the arrest and charging of David Stewart, a 37-year-old employee of Corrections Corporation of America. On October 31, 2006, he was acquitted of all charges (but Pokey thinks he did it)
The final call was made to a McDonald’s restaurant in Mount Washington, Kentucky on April 9, 2004. According to assistant manager Donna Summers, the caller identified himself as a policeman, ‘Officer Scott’, who described a female employee he suspected of stealing a purse. After the caller demanded that the employee be searched at the store, or taken to jail, the employee was brought into an office and ordered to remove her clothes, which Summers took to her car. Another assistant manager was present during this time. After an hour Summers told the caller that she was required at the counter, and the caller then told her to bring in her fiance, Walter Nix.
Nix arrived and took over from Summers, following the caller’s directions for the next 2 hours. He removed the apron the employee had covered herself with, ordered her to dance and perform jumping jacks. He also ordered her to sit on his lap and kiss him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strip_Search_Prank_Call_Scam
Pokey, I have a client who had a successful restaurant, but his night manager was tricked by this same call. It was stupid, but the attitude in small towns is to repect the police. It turned into a nightmare, ruining the life of the manager and ultimately resulting in the owner deciding to close the restaurant. The girl did get a considerable settlement.
Pokey moved his IRA into Real Estate
When I was layed off from my last job, I moved my IRA into a self directed IRA which allows me to invest in real estate.
Pokey pays about $400 per year for unlimited service, which is mostly paying bills (water power, repairs …)
You can also trade stocks, which I should not have done, since those are worth less than 1/2 what I paid about 12 months ago. These fees are about $20 per trade.
There are other provides, but this was one of the biggest and oldest that I found with understandable fees. I have been pleased with the service.
They also have regular seminars and education material.
From the Pokeys link
A McDonald’s manager (female) in Leitchfield, Kentucky was convinced on November 30, 2000 to undress before a customer when the caller persuaded her that the customer was a suspected sex offender and that her serving as bait would permit undercover officers to arrest him when he showed an interest in her.[2]
Does anyone have a brain anymore? This customers visit was “super-sized” by the managers cretinous gullibility. Hubba-hubba.