Anybody can help those in need. The FloridaLegislature, under the guise that business is faltering in the yacht industry,decided to cap the sales tax on purchases of yachts. Rather than tax the entireselling price, the sales tax would be capped after $18,000 (the amountcurrently paid for a $300,000 yacht). As an example, this tax cap would give a“beleaguered” yacht buyer a $42,000 break on the overall price of a $1 millionboat.
Least Competent Criminals
(1) Police in Berwick, Maine,made an easy collar in Apriland likely solved four residential burglaries inthe process. The two suspects (ages 33 and 32) wear GPS monitoring braceletsdue to previous arrests in New Hampshire. Police in Maine allege that the movements of thesuspects perfectly coincide with the burglars' routes. (2) In April, a burglarmanaged to escape from his crime at the Drug Warehouse in Tulsa, Okla.,but not before surveillance video captured his many mishaps. Video shows the perp,apparently hearing sirens, grabbing his ladder and scrambling up through theceiling to find the passage he used to get into the store. However, as hescrambled, he kept falling through the ceiling and crashing back to the floor.He fell to the floor six times, but apparently escaped on the seventh try.
Leading Economic Indicators
- In March, Swiss clockmaker Artya announced the creation of a wristwatchset in fossilized dinosaur feces (and featuring a strap made from the skin ofan American cane toad). Designer Yvan Arpa told the Associated Press the watchwould sell for about $12,000.
- The spa Ten Thousand Waves near Santa Fe, N.M., is thelatest facility to offer a treatment known as the "Japanese NightingaleFacial" (named after an alleged centuries-old treatment used by Japanesegeishas for skin rejuvenation). Nightingale droppings are dried and sanitized,then spiced with oils and used as a face scrubber.
- Jimmy Choo stores in New York City quickly sold out of their blinking women's shoeswith 5-inch heels. The shoes, which light up with every step, cost $2,495 apair (even though the battery, which cannot be replaced, dies after about 100hours).
Continued Outsourcing
American companies continue to outsource workoverseaseven when it comes to grading papers. In April, TheChronicle of HigherEducation reported on the University of Houston (UH) business school'scontract to have student papers uploaded to "teaching assistants"(mostly residing in India, Singapore and Malaysia) who read the papers, markthem up and offer constructive advice. UH professor Lori Whisenant, whoinitiated the university's contract with the firm EduMetry, said she is pleasedwith the results.
Capitalizing on Misfortune
When stroke victims recover, they sometimes acquirebizarre behaviors, like one by David Stopher of North Tyneside, England, whofound himself unable to say no to salespeople. According to a March Daily Mail report, the biggestbeneficiary of Stopher's condition has been a wireless telephone network called3, whose marketers had registered Stopher for six different phones and plans atthe same time (and paid all on time until his brothers stepped in to persuade 3to restructure the account).
Haul Queens
Blair Fowler, 16, has found fans as a"haul queen," someone who goes "shopping for glory" andthen displays and describes her purchases on Internet videos. A March Times of Londondispatch from Los Angelesnoted Fowler's acclaim "for her ability to deliver a high-pitched10-minute lecture on the merits of skinny versus low-riding jeans, apparentlywithout drawing breath." According to TheTimes, at least 100,000 "haul" videos are available on YouTube,mostly from "amateurs." Fowler's videos have been viewed 75 milliontimes by "haul" wannabes.
© 2010 Chuck Shepherd
