Chad's News

Chad’s News has previously discussed compact fluorescent lightbulbs, but this 5-minute speech by US Representative Ted Poe provides an interesting counterpoint (as well as a political statement on government regulatory authority). Personally, I think my CFLs will hold out until LED lightbulbs are ready—I’ve lived at my current address for 2½ years and have had only one CFL burn out.

Link: http://youtube.com/…
(via Presurfer)

Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all of its animals for mad cow disease, in an effort to pacify its overseas customers. According to Creekstone, they’ve been losing business due to a fear of mad cow disease, and Creekstone simply wants to test every animal as a way of boosting confidence. This sounds like a good idea to me, but the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is fighting the effort, claiming that they have regulatory control over the test kits, and they have decided to not allow Creekstone to test every animal. Say what? This appears to be a basic food safety issue, and I really don’t understand what the USDA is thinking.

This story, having caused my jaw to drop in disbelief and my head to shake back and forth, all the while mumbling “That’s absurd,” officially wins the coveted Chad’s News Stamp of Absurdity. Other such items can be found in the “absurd” category

Link: http://www.cnn.com/…
(via The Consumerist)

Update: Slashdot has more information—the appeals court found that the USDA does have the right to restrict the use of mad cow disease testing kits. The case, however, was remanded to the U.S. District Court to determine whether or not the USDA’s refusal is arbitrary or capricious.

Starting tomorrow (Monday, May 12th), the cost of a first class letter will be raised to $0.42. Those who have purchased forever stamps, however, can ignore the price hike.

Link: http://www.usps.com/…
(via Consumerist)

In an update to this Chad’s News post, it turns out there can be serious problems with cars that run on grease, vegetable oil, and other biofuels. The problems are not mechanical or technical; rather, they have to do with legal and regulatory issues (at least in California).

Link: http://www.latimes.com/…
(via Neatorama)

Politicians have been fuming for years over the significant amount of sales tax lost to internet sales. Case law states that an internet business must have a physical presence in the state in order to be forced to collect sales tax for that state. In the case where the sales tax is not collected by the business, a use tax usually applies. But individual consumers rarely pay use taxes for internet purchases.

The state of New York believes it has found a loophole. Some online retailers, such as Amazon, have affiliate programs. If Chad’s News was an Amazon affiliate, for example, I would have special links on my site to Amazon products, and I’d receive a percentage of any sales made via someone clicking on those links. New York legislators contends that my (theoretical) status as an affiliate constitutes a physical presence, and (if I lived in New York) allows them to require Amazon to collect sales tax. It’s convoluted. Expect court challenges.

Link #1: http://www.internetnews.com/…
(via Slashdot)

Link #2: http://www.news.com/…

If you’re looking forward to your economic stimulus payout, The Consumerist has details on when your deposit/check should arrive.

Link: http://consumerist.com/…

The city of Dallas, TX installed traffic cameras at major intersections, to catch people running red lights. The cameras have been so successful at reducing infractions that they’re no longer generating enough revenue to cover their operational costs. So now Dallas is considering shutting down the cameras. This is a common governmental misconception, viewing tickets as a source of revenue rather than a punishment. It reminds me of municipal water boards that had to increase their prices, because their conservation campaigns reduced water usage to the point where they were losing money.

Link: http://www.dallasnews.com/…
(via Engadget)

The MacBook Air, with its minimalist design, lack of visible ports, and (optional) solid-state drive, was unusual enough to flag a man going through airport security. He was eventually released, but not in time to catch his flight.

Link: http://www.michaelnygard.com/…
(via Engadget)

President Bush has signed into law some improvements to the federal “do not call” list, the most important of which is that list entries are permanent and will no longer expire after 5 years.

Link: http://consumerist.com/…

When the US Internal Revenue Service first came out with e-filing, I was annoyed that you had to buy tax preparation software or pay for tax preparation in order to e-file. This is no longer the case. If your adjusted gross income is $54,000 or less, you can use a free e-filing service called Free File. The linked article has a list of services from which to choose—I’ve used the H&R Block TaxCut Free File for two years now, with no problems. Sure beats mailing in those returns. Note, however, that this only applies to federal taxes, and that you may get marketing emails from the service that you choose.

Link: http://www.irs.gov/…

Astute Chad’s News readers have heard about the US government’s economic stimulus plan. The linked article has the facts. Essentially, the law creates a one-time tax cut for the 2008 tax year (the cut is in the form of a tax credit). The credit will be estimated, based on your 2007 tax return, and will be distributed this May. Then, when you file your 2008 return, you’ll have to determine the actual credit amount. There is also a rebate calculator to determine how much you’ll receive—looks like mine will be $600.

Link: http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/…
(via The Consumerist)

A class action lawsuit has been brought against members of the DeBeers Group for inflating the price of diamonds. You can get part of the settlement if you belong to this group: “All persons located in the United States who purchased any diamond or diamond jewelry or other products containing gem diamonds for personal use and not for resale between January 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006.”

Link: https://diamondsclassaction.com/
(via The Consumerist)