Silly French People, Just Eat More

Earlier this week, France tried to ban 'inciting extreme thinness'.

The new bill would allow judges to imprison or fine offenders almost $50,000 if found guilty of "inciting others to deprive themselves of food" to an "excessive" degree.

So far, everyone in France is still skinny.

Appropriate for other reasons, too

Charles Gibson just said that a quotation from the Constitution on presidential duties was appropriate because they are at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Maybe it is more appropriate since a woefully small number of people have read the Constitution and are familiar with the actual job description of the position for which these two people are arguing.

Maybe?

Do Pennsylvanians Care?

Are you watching the debate right now? I know debates are traditionally kind of silly, but this seems especially banal. Can we get even a cursory policy question? Flag pins and who is in who's in-crowd? Honestly - I can't care about any of this stuff and I'm the kind of person who writes on a political-oriented website. I don't think they are going to win over any Pennsylvanians this way. Maybe the candidates should have only agreed if the debates were moderated exclusively by local journalists. I feel like I'm wasting time I could be using to clear the DVR.

Agency considers customer needs, adapts

That's news! USCIS, the agency that handles citizenship and visa clearances for would-be immigrants is adding weekend hours as it tries to get out from under an 18,000 person backlog.

Don't get all "taxpayers footing the bill for immigrants" on me either - USCIS is entirely self-funded. Applicant fees support the agencies work and that's all the money they get. Fees increased last year, too.

Though USCIS has been slammed for not preparing more for the huge increase in applicants immediately before the fees rose (duh, who couldn't see that coming?), I give them some credit for reacting more like private industry than a government agency in burning the oil longer.

Sky, housing prices, continue to fall

Home prices are back to 2004 levels. And still falling? Housing prices are like a wave, right? Up and down and up and down. This run-up started when? About 2003? So we're not quite back at start.

Another article I read today - can't find the link to save my life, sorry - talked about homeowners stuck because their homes aren't worth what they paid for them. This is a bar to them selling. But really, it's a bar to them selling without taking a loss, right? They could still sell the house. Short sales? I mean, I get the bind, but still. And the problem is homes aren't worth what or more than their cost right now. They once were. They may be again. They'll probably go up. It will just take longer.

Renting not so bad, you know.

We tend to know stuff - for certain - don't we? Real estate is always a good investment. Home prices always go up. Now they aren't So now real estate is not a good investment and house prices always go down. We are very focused on the now. Maybe we should chill, no?

The party in power takes the blame for bad economic times - and since we're focusing on presidents right now, I'm thinking that's a boon for the left. So, hooray, the economy is crap and your house is worthless!

Primaries, right, those are still happening aren't they

Obama is gaining in PA, or, per the headline, Clinton is losing traction. Is that a glass half full/half empty difference, or a real difference? I guess it's real. One candidate could stay steady and the other could gain or lose all on his or her own. It's those pesky undecideds.

The survey found the New York senator leading Barack Obama by just 5 percentage points in Pennsylvania, which votes next Tuesday. Such a margin would not give her much of a boost in the battle for the party's nomination.

What is more, the poll found Clinton trails Obama by 5 points in Indiana, another Rust Belt state that should play to her strengths among blue-collar voters.

Will we make it to August without a nominee?

Free Tax Day, Kinda

This Friday at the La Pintoresca Library, the State Controller's Office and the city of Pasadena will be hosting free tax prep. But only if you make under $40,000.

Look, these people don't want to have to deal with dividends, and write-offs, and charitable contributions, and yacht loopholes.