Daily Dose of Common Sense

Here’s a clue, you tax deadbeats: First, pay your taxes. We do. What makes you think you’re above the law? Second, if you’re going to be a deadbeat, please go ahead and post pictures of your big new sailboat or share information about your new high-paying job on Facebook or MySpace. Why? Because the taxman has gotten smarter. Many state revenue agents have started to use social media to track down tax deadbeats.

State revenue agents have begun nabbing scofflaws by mining information posted on social-networking Web sites, from relocation announcements to professional profiles to financial boasts.

In Minnesota, authorities were able to levy back taxes on the wages of a long-sought tax evader after he announced on MySpace that he would be returning to his home town to work as a real-estate broker and gave his employer’s name. The state collected several thousand dollars, the full amount due.

I love it when authorities make arrests by using the criminals’ stupidity against them. Every one of these deadbeats deserve what they get. You can argue that we shouldn’t have to pay taxes, or that our tax rates are too high. But, one or two people shouldn’t be allowed to dodge. Pay up like the rest of us!

Photo courtesy of Flickr: Paul Keleher

This story shows some incarcerated common sense. Inmates at the Hillsborough County Jail in Brandon, Florida have spent two years perfecting recipes for three flavors of hot sauce. They grew the peppers themselves as part of a horticulture program, and then produced a commercial sauce. There’s “Smoke,” “Original,” and “No Escape,” with the latter being the hottest.

The revenue goes back into the program for the inmates, and the sauce can only be purchased online (through a mail-in form).

It’s a great idea with a killer marketing hook (forgive the pun). If you’re going to be behind bars with a lot of time on your hands, you might as well do something productive. Better to learn a craft and create a product to whittle away the time. Will jailhouse salsa or maximum security spaghetti sauce be far behind?

Rock on, jailhouse!

[via boingboing.net]

Last week, a New York woman was charged with drunk driving while transporting home five kids after attending a festival. At 12:30 in the morning, she was pulled over for a broken headlight. But, the officer smelled booze and a sobriety test was performed (and failed).

The woman’s excuse? According to the news report:

“My husband was 10 times drunker than I was. I had two kids left with me that weren’t even mine that I had no intention of driving home in the first place. It was either let my husband drive and kill everybody or leave those two kids abandoned,” she said.

Hmmmm. First, how about coming up with a plan for someone in your group to be responsible and stay sober throughout the night? It seems like a simple, adult conversation to have, especially when you have kids along. “Are you going to drink tonight? OK, then I won’t.” If the advance planning is too difficult for you, how about asking someone else for a ride home? Or, calling a cab?

If I were the parent of one of the two non-family kids involved, I would be furious at this woman. There is a point where safety trumps carpooling duties. I would rather my kid be abandoned than driven home by someone who had been drinking. At least then, s/he could use a phone to call me.

It’s mind-boggling: After all the awareness through ad campaigns, public service announcements, pamphlets, and news reports, some people still get behind the wheel after drinking. What more can be done to convince people it’s a really, really bad idea?

I was surprised by this recent report from a mother who visited an IKEA in Brooklyn, NY. While breastfeeding her six-month old child in the store, the woman–who was fully covered–was rudely asked by the staff to move to the restroom instead. Shamed, she obeyed. Mother and daughter waited for a stall, but eventually gave up and left the store. (For the record, to force a breastfeeding mother into the restroom is illegal in New York.)

I’m shocked this sort of discrimination still happens, especially at a store with such a family-friendly reputation. IKEA stores have great monitored play areas for kids that allow parents a child-free shopping experience (and really, what’s better than that?!) plus they sell baby food, too. But, the offended staff member involved the security guards, so we know it’s not a renegade employee with the naked-mommy-boob heebie-jeebies.

This incident smacks of a bygone era. Are some people still so freaked out by the thought of breastfeeding (remember, she was covered) that they can’t tolerate someone quietly nursing nearby?

Breastfeeding isn’t exhibitionism, folks. It’s not a sexual act; it’s a practical one. Nursing is much cheaper and also better for the child’s health. We should all try to be supportive of mothers, whether they choose to bottle feed or breastfeed. Neither are an easy choice.

[Note: This post originally appeared on RationalMoms.com.]

Flying is increasingly a hassle. And, apparently it’s worse if you carry cash.

In March, a man was stopped by TSA agents in St. Louis because he was carrying $4,700 in cash. An employee of Ron Paul’s campaign, he was returning home from an event where he was responsible for the proceeds of campaign materials. TSA agents detained and questioned him for half an hour. When he repeatedly asked what scope of authority the agents had to hold and question him, he received no explanation. In fact, the situation escalated to the point where the agents placed him under arrest. Thinking fast, he recorded the whole incident on his iPhone.

The ACLU is now filing a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, which has authority over the TSA. The lawsuit maintains that the TSA is subjecting Americans to unreasonable searches and detentions.

TSA officials have the authority to conduct safety-related searches for weapons and explosives. According to the ACLU’s lawsuit, TSA agents are using heightened security measures after 9/11 as an excuse to exceed their search authority and engage in unlawful searches that violate the privacy rights of passengers. The lawsuit also charges that unconstitutional searches and detention by TSA agents have become the norm.

We can hope this lawsuit will result in some serious regulation overhaul within the TSA. Getting from point A to point B is hard enough without constantly having your constitutional rights trampled on. In the meantime, if you’re going to travel, use credit cards or remember to have a voice recorder program on your cell phone.

Of course, if you really want to remind the TSA about your rights, you can carry the Bill of Rights – Security Edition when you travel. These metal cards have the First Ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution printed on them, with the Fourth Amendment highlighted in red. (That’s your unreasonable search and seizure protection for those who don’t remember history class.) Power to the people!

Older Americans commonly grumble that the younger generation has lost its manners. Well, New York City is about to launch a campaign on the buses and subways that might help.

Seat hogs who are unwilling to give up their bus or train seat to an elderly or disabled person will now be slapped with a fine OR possibly recieve ten days in jail. Yes, jail time.

It seems extreme, and it’s sad that we have to remind people to do something so basic in good manners. But, apparently we do. In addition to older and disabled passengers not getting seats, many pregnant women also complain that no one offers them a seat during busy times. It’s a shame that compassion sometimes gets lost in the rush hour commute.

Mass transit is for the masses. But, individual courtesy is still important.

Wouldn’t it be nice not have to lunge for the remote when the commercial break starts? Television ads are loud and can be jarring, especially if you aren’t expecting the jump in volume. Well, we aren’t the only ones who have noticed.

There is currently legislation moving through Congress that would limit the volume of TV ads. If it passes, the law would stipulate that commercials be no louder than the average decibels of the program in which they appear. (The current rule allows ads to broadcast at the highest volume peak of the program.)

Broadcasters say they are aware of the problem and are working on their own plan to limit ad volume. But, this isn’t exactly a new gripe from viewers. The industry has had years and years to implement their own solution. And yet, commercials are still louder than they should be, which forces people to find ways around seeing them. Services like DVR, Hulu, and TiVo are gaining in popularity because they allow consumers to minimize–or skip altogether–the annoyingly loud commercials that interrupt television shows. If the ads were tolerable, perhaps more viewers would stick with broadcast television.

Dog poop is a problem. Rather, dog owners who don’t pick up after their dogs are a problem. In a big city, dog feces litter the sidewalks and public walkways like land mines. Even in smaller towns, homeowners grumble after finding a “present” on their lawn from a random pooch.

Signs hang in various places to remind dog owners: Please Curb Your Dog. Does everyone know what this means, or is this too antiquated an expression for some dog owners? You would assume it’s self-explanatory, but perhaps our signs need to be a little more direct and lose the politeness: Please Pick Up Your Dog’s Poop Before Moving On.

New York City just got tougher on negligent dog owners. In June, the fine for not picking up after your dog will more than double to $250. Of course, you have to be seen by a policeman for this law to be enforced. But, it may prompt some dog owners to be more diligent.

The majority of pet owners are responsible pooper scoopers. However, a few bad apples are all it takes to ruin the sidewalks for the rest of us. The fines for leaving poop behind can’t be high enough.

In a case that will surely go down as one of the lowest points in our legal history, a California woman sued the makers of Cap’n Crunch cereal. No, she didn’t find something horrible in her cereal box. Nor was she gypped out of a prize inside. Instead, this woman was outraged that “crunchberries” aren’t real fruit.

The plaintiff argued that consumers are being misled into thinking that crunchberries contain real fruit because “berry” appears in the word.

It’s hard to see how anyone could dream up a case of fraud here. Regardless of the fact that the ingredients are plainly listed, the picture on the front of the box shows you exactly what the cereal looks like. There’s no big mystery. Luckily, the judge agreed and dismissed the case.

What next? Will someone sue because the Cap’n isn’t a real Captain?

Yesterday, an incident between two Long Island drivers left one man dead. The deceased left his car to confront another driver, wouldn’t let the other driver pass and was run over. Also last week, a Baltimore police officer was arrested after throwing tobacco juice and pointing his gun at another driver while off-duty. Sadly, these are hardly isolated incidents.

According to the NHTSA, there are two problems: aggressive driving and road rage. Aggressive driving is a “traffic offense,” such as speeding and improper lane changing. Road rage is a “criminal offense,” by which an incident occurs on the roadway and an assault transpires. It is estimated that aggressive driving is responsible for one-third of all crashes.

Are you an aggressive driver? Take this quiz to find out. Here are 10 Tips to Prevent Road Rage. If you see someone driving irresponsibly, you can anonymously report them to this site.

Remember, you’re in a car but you’re not invincible. Let’s be careful out there.