IndieCandy - All Natural Allergen Free Candy

IndieCandy - All Natural Allergen Free Candy (www.indiecandy.com)

Favorite - Dark Chocolate truffle....Mmmm

"Dark chocolate center draped in dark chocolate.   A perfect little addition to a stocking, gift basket or hostess gift.    These are vegan and dairy free truffles,... but shhhh,  no one will know that by taste. These are some of the richest truffles you will ever eat. 2 truffles per gift box."

#itsawesome

2 local businesses chosen to compete for grant | TuscaloosaNews.com #Zambooki.com

2 local businesses chosen to compete for grant | TuscaloosaNews.com:

"Two Tuscaloosa companies are among 13 start-up companies that have been selected for the 2013 Alabama Launchpad Start-Up Competition.

The companies are Thrupore Technologies, a nanotechnology start-up that provides superior catalysts for chemical manufacturers based on advanced materials science, and Zambooki (www.Zambooki.com), an Internet and Web service company that helps individuals and businesses find contractors for various projects..." (Click Link to see complete article)

--Staff report

When NOT to call a lawyer

One lawyer's opinion on when to call a lawyer and when not to.

"Fact-Checkers Howl, but Both Sides Cling to False Ads" - NYTimes.com

Maybe THE most important issue for future elections:  How to provide some accountability for truthfulness (or a lack thereof) to the American electorate?


Fact-Checkers Howl, but Both Sides Cling to False Ads - NYTimes.com:

'via Blog this'

"In his very first television advertisement last year, Mitt Romneyhighlighted the nation’s dire unemployment crisis, its record number of home foreclosures and the rising national debt, and showed video of President Obama delivering this arresting remark: “If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.”  There was one problem: the quotation was taken so wildly out of context that it turned Mr. Obama’s actual meaning upside-down. The truncated clip came from a speech Mr. Obama gave in 2008 talking about his opponent, Senator John McCain of Arizona. The full quotation? “Senator McCain’s campaign actually said, and I quote, ‘If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.’ ” 

PolitiFact.com, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking Web site, rated the advertisement “Pants on Fire,” its most deceptive rating possible, but it achieved what the Romney campaign had hoped: people started talking about the sluggish economy and how Mr. Obama’s campaign promises had fallen short. And it set the tone for the campaign that followed, which has often seemed dismissive of fact-checkers.

“We’re not going let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers,” Neil Newhouse, the Romney campaign’s pollster, said this week during a breakfast discussion at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., that was sponsored by ABC News and Yahoo News. He said that fact-checkers brought their own sets of thoughts and beliefs to their work, and that the campaign stands behind its ads. 

Every four years there are lies in campaigns, and at times a blurry line between acceptable political argument and outright sophistry. But recent events — from the misleading statements in convention speeches to television advertisements repeating widely debunked claims — have raised new questions about whether the political culture still holds any penalty for falsehood. 

Brooks Jackson, the director of FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, said that at various points this year both sides have blithely gone on repeating statements that were found false. “They don’t care,” he said, “because it gets votes.” The increasingly disaggregated media ecosystem, the diminished trust in traditional news organizations and the rise of social media had made it easier than ever to inject questionable assertions directly into the media bloodstream — and to rebut them.
But while there is arguably more fact-checking now than ever — and, thanks to the Web, more ways to independently check what candidates and campaigns say — verdicts that a campaign has crossed the line are often drowned out by dissent from its supporters, who take it upon themselves to check the checkers...(cont.)"

*A version of this article appeared in print on September 1, 2012, on page A14 of the New York edition with the headline: Fact-Checkers Howl, but Campaigns Seem Attached to Dishonest Ads.

Los Angeles California Estate Planning Blog

Because my practice is a mix of serving small businesses and families, I am separating these two facets of law into separate blogs, so that going forward posts of interest to entrepreneurs and businesses will continue to be posted here, posts concerning estate planning, wills, trusts, etc. will be posted at my new Los Angeles Estate Planning Blog. The first post on trust protectors is up now. For now, past articles on estate planning will remain here, but I may migrate or duplicate these to the new blog at some point.

When to Update Your Estate Plan

A recent Forbes article written by Deborah L. Jacobs serves as a helpful reminder as to when one may want to consider updating an existing estate plan:

These documents, along with the rest of your estate plan, should be reviewed at least every five years–more often if there is a change in the law, your finances or personal circumstances. The following important developments may require action on your part.

Estate Planning: Choosing A Guardian for Your Children

Choosing a guardian for one's children is but one consideration and purpose of estate planning. According to Forbes, Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, who died in 2012, and his wife, struggled with the issue and reached what appears to have been a compromise solution. Because Yauch and his wife used a trust in their estate planning, most of the rest of the details of their estate plan remain private.

"A guardian’s responsibilities range from the mundane to the monumental: everything from tying shoelaces and drying tears to selecting schools and medical care. Like Yauch, you should designate more than one person, so if your top choice is not available, your second preference is clear.

While you’re at it, you’ll probably want a testamentary trust (one created by your will at your death) to hold any assets you’re leaving minor children. In some states, if you have not made arrangements for both functions, the court will appoint a separate person to deal with the child’s money."

Yauch's will also prohibits the use of his image or music in advertising, but portions of these provisions he handwrote into his will may not be valid.