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I've been asked to remove a bumper sticker in order to qualify for a job.

odinsdream — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:46:17 -0800

Corporate policy and bumper stickers. I've been asked to remove a sticker in order to qualify for a job. I'm a systems administrator working for a small company which provides IT staff to larger companies. I'm scheduled to take over for one of our other employees who's moving out of state. The position I'm filling is not new to the client, nor are the job requirements different from my current position. I'm simply moving from one of our clients to another client but providing the same service.

This client has been very excited to hear that I will be staffing for them in place of the current guy.

I stopped by the client's site early one morning to pick up some computer hardware. During the ten minutes my car was in the parking lot someone noticed one of my bumper stickers which reads "W - The Idiot." I created and sold these as a riff on the "W - The President" stickers that were common in my area.

My boss received a call from the owner of the client business stating, in no uncertain terms, that I am not welcome to work there as long as the sticker is on my car. The reason given was the "respect of the Office of President of the United States, regardless of your personal views" canard. The owner just coincidentally happens to be a republican who donates the maximum allowed amounts each year to the party. Total coincidence.

Even if this were a company policy and not the owner's whim, are such things permissible? I've got a few other stickers as well which could potentially offend religious people and bigots. I'm not about to remove them either. By declining to remove the sticker in question, would this client have any legal grounds to terminate their contract with my company?

I've told my boss that I'll take the weekend before getting back to him, though I let him know I am not interested in removing the sticker. He is not asking that I do so, but may not be interested in starting a fight with the client.

I'd like to know if it's legal for a company to have policies that cover things outside of work like this, especially political speech. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

How do I help my amateur non-American singer get a U.S. visa?

malocchio — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:41:32 -0800

I've been working with a Finnish singer who hopes to come to the U.S. next spring. Ideally, we'd like to play some shows in the U.S., but it looks like obtaining a visa may be very challenging... She has contacted the U.S. Embassy, who informed her:

Even as an amateur musician you must have a work permit approved by the US immigration. The US-contact needs to file the work petition, Form I-129 (www.uscis.gov under ‘Forms’) with the USCIS.

I reviewed the I-129, and it looks like our best bet is to file as a P-3: "an alien coming temporarily to perform, teach, or coach, individually, or as part of a group, in the arts or entertainment fields in a program that is culturally unique."

In order to file as a P-3, we must submit

1) A written consultation from an appopriate labor organization

2) Evidence that all performances will be culturally unique and documentation that the performance of the alien or group is culturally unique as evidenced by actual reviews in newspapers, journals, or other published materials.

So, we are lacking in these items. And I suspect that a demo CD isn't really enough to get reviews in any type of publication that will be good enough for the DHS. She probably has until the end of January to file, so we have a couple of months to scrounge something up.

Any ideas, thoughts, suggestions?

Do I need a business license?

jefeweiss — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:31:10 -0800

Last year I got most of my income for working from home in the state of Virginia. I did work for a company that is not owned by me and was located in another town in Virginia. I got a 1099 as an individual from the company for the work that I did. This work was all conducted by phone and email, no one came to my home. I recently got a letter in the mail from the City of Winchester, VA saying that I did not register as a business in the city and that I needed to pay back licensing fees. I know you're not my lawyer, but do I have to do this?

How can I help make same-sex marriage legal?

Mrs. Pterodactyl — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:46:22 -0800

The legalization of same-sex marriage is very important to me. What can I do to help? I don't have much money to donate and I'm wondering what avenues would be best in terms of volunteering my time. Quick background, in case this is relevant in any way: I am a woman married to a man, my mother is an Episcopal priest who agrees with me on this issue and I live in DC so I don't have any congresspeople to whom I can write. What can I do to help make same-sex marriage legal throughout the country?

I'm looking for a website that can help me track/graph the movement of "defense forces" around the world.

parkbench — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:23:17 -0800

I'm looking for a website that can help me track/graph the movement of "defense forces" around the world. Basically, I've been thinking/reading a lot about Lebanon lately, and as a sort of experiment in this sense, I want to see if there would be any way that I could check every few days on the UNIFIL dispatches there.

I mean, is this sort of thing public in any way? Are there creepy military-buff websites that do this sort of thing? Even if it's not too fancy--brief, one-sentence descriptions, even--it would help a lot. Of course, monitoring troop movements outside of Lebanon would be welcome as well.

Thanks!

How to Defend Against a Secured Parties Claim

Muirwylde — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:06:30 -0800

[Bankruptcyfilter] YANML...speaking in hypotheticals only. Exempt furniture / wildcard exemption vs security interest of creditor in same said furniture with a UCC Security Agreement. Does the furniture get an exemption? Or does the furniture get Repossesed via Foreclosure of Security Interest in Personal Property? Furniture was just pledged as collateral...never was sold or belonged to the creditor. How is this determined... by the Bankruptcy Trustees discretion, or by law?

Does the US government think I've been a naughty girl?

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:37:47 -0800

YANML filter: I don't live in America but it's possible that the US government has issued a warrant/indictment against me. Is it possible to find out if they have or not? What if it's a sealed indictment? I'm no fugitive but I'm not going to enter the US and say 'did you happen to be looking for me' if there's a risk that the answer is yes? Just to be clear, I haven't done anything illegal but it's possible that my name got mixed up in some stuff and I'd like to check that before I next go to the US. I also don't want to just "turn myself in" in order to "clarify things" as that's just going to lead to confusion. Is there a way to look into this without raising all kinds of red flags etc?

What do you do when the court has no record of your "crime"?

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:12:00 -0800

I received a traffic ticket for driving without headlights on in Los Angeles, but now the court has no record of my citation. What do I do now? I was cited during the evening of October 4th for "Driving without Lights on During Darkness." I had only been driving for a few blocks when I was pulled over and hadn't noticed my lights weren't on. For what it's worth, it was a fairly busy street that was well-lit at the time.

Anyway, the ticket says that I must appear at the courthouse by November 18 but I haven't received a courtesy notice in the mail yet. Assuming that the notice must've been lost in the mail, I checked the court's website and they have no record of a citation. I've searched the database with both my driver's license and citation number, but nothing comes up, even though it's past the "21 days" it sometimes takes for the citation to appear in the system.

I've called the court and navigated the automated phone system, but they have no record of it either. I tried to speak to an operator but the system was "too busy" so an automated message said to try the call at a later time.

Is it possible that the police officer, after the fact, realized how brightly lit the street was and decided to discard the ticket or not process it? Incidentally, I later learned that there was a full moon that evening, which could be counted as an extenuating circumstance, something which the officer might have realized himself. I don't know how likely that is or if it's even possible (or just wishful thinking on my part).

Does anyone have any experience with this or advice about what I should do? At this point, I'm leaning towards just going to the courthouse, which is a hassle, but would presumably settle the matter once and for all. On the other hand, I would like to avoid bringing the ticket to the court's attention if it somehow fell through the cracks and there's otherwise no record of it. Please help me, hivemind!

If anyone has any follow-up questions or would like to reply anonymously, my email is wheresmytrafficticket@gmail.com.

Thanks!

"How do I know you're not a cop?"

stinkycheese — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:08:37 -0800

How do criminals convince other criminals they aren't (undercover) police?

Once on youtube, always on youtube?

bumpkin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:53:31 -0800

How to remove a video featuring myself from Youtube or Myspace. Put otherwise: do I have any rights to this? I emailed Myspace to remove a video that profiles me and that was used for marketing for a college I used to work for. Their bot promptly responded with requests for information re: copyright. I did not create this video, but as far as I know, I did not sign away any rights to it (at the time, I cooperated with the making of this rather cheesy, now embarrasing work). Am I just going to have to live with this? I would link to the video in question, but I rather far too google-able as it is right now....

What are your favorite blogs/news sources/analysis on Iraq?

torietorie — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:08:20 -0800

I'm heading to Iraq in several months and I'm looking for great sources of information on the country. This could include: - Political, cultural, etc blogs - Blogs from servicemen/civilians working in Iraq - News analysis - Iraqi blogs (they can be English or Arabic - I read both!) - Backgrounders or historical analysis Be creative! What do YOU read to find out about Iraq? I'd love to hear about it. Thanks for your input in advance!

Do they have to notify boyfriend?

LaurieC — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:03:27 -0800

Does social security have to notify BF if his check is being withheld? My boyfriend was in jail for 2 weeks, and he's worried that he will not receive his check today. Usually it's in the bank by now and he still has not received it. He had a misdemeanor, he plead guilty and he is currently sentenced to probation. Do they have to notify him if they withhold his check?

Thanks

Required notice for vacating apartment?

mellifluous — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:30:51 -0800

Our apartment was damaged on Friday, and the whole floor needs to come out, possibly some of the drywall too. The property manager needs us to vacate, and remove all of our stuff, for an extended period of time (1-2 months). (Note that we have been dealing with the property manager, and to a lesser extent, the superintendent, and not our landlord.) How much notice is he legally required to give us? We live in Toronto. YANAL. Today, at about 6, our landlord emailed us, saying the property manager wanted us out of our unit by Wednesday. Which gives us less than 2 days to co-ordinate moving, storage, and new accommodation.

Our insurance company informed us that repairs wouldn't take place for at least another three weeks. Until just a few hours ago, the super + PM had given us absolutely no information on when we could expect them to begin. The two of them came by to inspect the damage twice just today, and said nothing about it.

As far as I can tell, this is completely unreasonable. But I can't seem to find any specific tenancy law it violates, perhaps because repairs rarely require tenants to leave for such a long period of time. I have seen by-laws, for example, that require 24 hours of written notice for repairs - and that's reasonable for something like "I need to repair your water-pipe," but not for something like "I need you, and all of your stuff, out for 2 months."

What can we do?

Please help me keep my girlfriend safe from a stalker

digividal — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:23:03 -0800

My girlfriend is being stalked by a fugitive, what can I do to try and keep her safe, and where can I turn for help. My girlfriend is being stalked by an ex-con. He want to jail for trying to kill her, and her family members. He got out about 3 months ago, after serving 3 years, and he is now stalking her again.

The police are looking for him, but this has been going on for 2 weeks now, and they have not found him.

He started out making threatening phone calls, saying he will kill her her family. He was seen outside their place of business, they called the cops of course, and he ran before they got here (just).

He has not been observed since then, and he has not made a call.
The police told us to do a *57 after he called. he has not called back, but from my own knowledge of phone systems, *57 might not work at all, depending on how he is placing the call.

We have tried to reach out to the media, to try and get his photo and details out to the people (Co), and harness the hivemind in that way, but DenverPost, 9news and other outlets I have tried contacting have not taken any interest. I guess the stalking is not a serious enough crime.

So my girlfriend and her family are at their witts end, after looking over their shoulder for a killer, who might be anywhere.

Any advice you all could offer would be great at this point.
I know the police are trying, but what can we do to try
and keep safe, and still try to keep sane.
She did not work at all for the first week, but she cannot
afford to not work for long.

Cheap public liability insurance for my web (yes, web) business

tomargue — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:48:36 -0800

I'm after really cheap public liability insurance for my new business. I need public liability purely for bureaucratic reasons, so I'm after the cheapest, nastiest policy I can find. Can anyone recommend a company? I'm setting up a web application and was recently successful in obtaining funding for next year as part of the Australian Government's NEIS program. As part of the NEIS program requirements, I must, unfortunately, have public liability insurance before I commence the program, despite public liability insurance being redundant for my purposes.

I called up a few insurance agencies and the cheapest I could find was $480 per year through RACV (insured for $5 million). $480 per year seems pretty excessive, since I'm going to be working from home and never actually going to see any of my customers!

Does anyone know if it's possible to get real cheap public liability insurance (I live in Melbourne)? I don't care if it's dodgy...no customer is actually going to come up to my apartment in person! I just need something cheap and nasty. So long as I have a policy number and proof of payment, NEIS are happy with that.

Now I've got to know what was that bus-dude's crime

memebake — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:18:06 -0800

Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree is pretty unusual, in that its a romantic song about a recently released convict. It seems to be based on an urban legend, or possibly true story (see the wikipedia link). So my question is: Can we work out what the dude was in prison for? Clues:
-He was in prison for 3 years.
-Some of the stories the song is based on take place in Georgia

Given that there was a court case about the origins of the story, perhaps the information is documented somewhere.

Maryland DMV

josher71 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:23:21 -0800

Marylanders, I need your help. I haven't had a driver's license since 2004 and now I need one in a shorter time than nine months from now. I haven't had a license in a long time since I was living in NYC and didn't need one. Now, here in Maryland I need to drive again and in order to do that, I have to get a learner's permit. That's fine, except for the fact that you have to have the permit for NINE MONTHS before you can get your license.

This seems excessive to me especially since I've had a license before. Regardless, I pretty much need to get a license as soon as possible to help me get a job here in Baltimore. Is there some way to get around this nine month wait that you know of? Or, are there any suggestions you have for how I would go about trying to get an exception?

In 1988, invented the Oscillation Overthruster while an intern for Team Banzai.

Shepherd — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:28:27 -0800

What happens if somebody lies in an obituary? I was reading up on Poe's death recently; Griswold's "obituary"/poison pen letter about the man following his death was intriguing, and I've been wondering what happens if somebody crafts an obituary that contains deliberate falsehoods, or provides the newspaper/funeral home with facts that aren't necessarily true. I'm not talking about "news obituaries," as those are obviously the work of paid newspaper staff and fall firmly under its wing. I'm wondering about the "classifieds obituaries."

This is partly legal curiosity, and partly my own desire to have an obituary that contains sentences like "in 1987, wrestled George 'the Animal' Steele at WrestleMania III in his masked identity as Doctor Resisto."

Are standard-grade obituaries fact-checked or even reviewed for ridiculous claims, or are they (in terms of the paid-per-inch details) "free space" that an author can fill as she chooses?

Who is legally responsible if an obituary contains false or even defamatory information?

Baseball Bat lawsuit WTF?

Mitheral — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:24:39 -0800

Is there a rest of the story to the recent award of US$850K to a person hit by a baseball from the bat's manufacturer? The story says the award is because their wasn't sufficient warning labelling on the bat. Which seems crazy on the face of it considering that the bat was 60 feet, give or take, from the person who died and was, I'm assuming, not owned or even handled by the person who died. How would he have ever seen the warning?

Is there a back story like the McDonalds coffee case that isn't making it into the press?

PhD Ethics?

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:17:34 -0800

What are some ethics considerations around a PhD dissertation? And should I do anything about a former colleague who I think violated them? A guy I used to work with was recently awarded a PhD in a social science from a one of the universities in a big east coast state's public university system.

I admit I never liked the guy - sketchy around young women and not very good at his job - and I was happy when he was not exactly fired but it was suggested that he find another place to work. And he landed a good job in the private sector.

I have two problems with his PhD. First, that at least two of the three people on his committee, including his advisor, were people to whom he has for years been directing pretty lucrative US government consulting contracts. Isn't there some kind of conflict of interest clause in PhD committees? Like you can't be the direct financial beneficiary of someone whose work you're supposed to be evaluating?

Second, that I think a lot of what he presented as his own work was actually done by other people at the place where we both worked. Not so much me, but other people. And not just data entry or mechanical work, but some of the basic ideas that he presents were first suggested and worked out by people other than him. I don't know if he gives credit for this in the dissertation, but I doubt it.

So the questions are:

- Are these legitimate concerns?

- If they are, is it worth it for me to raise them? I wouldn't benefit directly, since I don't work with him anymore, but its been bugging me for the last year or so.

- If I do decide to do something about it, who do I complain to? Do schools like this (for example, SUNY Albany) have an ethics panel? An academic integrity review committee?

Should we make our future educational organic farm a non-profit?

bengarland — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:11:00 -0800

Should we make our future educational organic farm a non-profit? If so, how? I inherited some old family land out in the country (about 50 acres), and my partner and I are planning to build a rammed earth passive solar house and organic permaculture farm there. Since it is in rural north Georgia, it will be one of the first (if not THE first) of its kind. For instance, we already found out that we'd be the first to hook up solar panels to the power grid in the tri-county area that the local EMC serves.

We want it to be an educational "living lab" that 4-H, FFA, Scouts, students, and other groups can visit and learn from. We also plan to have workshops on permaculture, natural building, organic gardening, etc. There are two high schools within 10 miles, the University of Georgia is 40 miles, and Atlanta is 80 miles, so we think this is a definite possibility.

Our goal is to have it be an educational outreach for the community, where people can come learn practical skills and knowledge to better themselves and the planet. We think this is especially important in rural Georgia, where (it seems from my growing up there) people aren't often challenged (or given the opportunity) to seek alternatives.

I've heard of other educational farms incorporating themselves as 501(c)(3) non-profits. My questions are:

1) Judging from the goals I outlined above, is this a good idea? (If not, why not?)

2) Can it be done for an entity that is still in the planning stages?

3) What is the best website or other guide that details the process?

Does bf qualify for military benefits?

lwclec072 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:44:54 -0800

Does my boyfriend qualify for veterans benefits? My boyfriend was discharged from the army after 1 year 11 months and 10 days due to not being able to adapt to military life he received a general discharge under honorable circumstances. He didn't complete his contract and he was never in a combat zone. We are just trying to find out if he is eligible for medical and disability benefits due to mental illness he developed during/after the military?

Also he's already legally disabled and receives social security benefits, but it's barely enough to live on.

Busted by the pen nazi

hollyanderbody — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:42:00 -0800

I got a traffic citation last night, and I think the cop was a dick. I want to report him, but I want to do it the right way. What do you think? I was driving home from work last night in my husband's work truck, and he pulled me over because one of the tail light covers was broken, making the tail light white. Also the license plate was not illuminated, and partially obscured by the trailer hitch ball thing. Yes, I know, but my driving was scrupulously correct, and people were passing me left and right. I admit, I wasn't cheerful. I was anoyed. I had to call my husband asking where the registration and insurance was, and the heater is broken so I was freezing. The cop comes back and explains that he is giving me a warning, and hands me the clip-board to sign. I had my pen ready and began to sign my name, and he pushes his (cheap) ball point pen at me and says, kinda beauracratically, (I don't recall the exact verbage of any of the exchange, so I'm paraphrasing) "Use this one". So I said "Why" and he said "just use this one" and I said "why? this is a regular ball point pen" (it was a Zebra F-301 ball point. It wasn't a purple glitter gel pen with a fuzzy cap and a bell). He says, pulling away the clip board, "You want me to go back and make this a citation?" I was incredulous. I asked again "what is wrong with me using this pen" He said again "You want this to be a citation? Is that what you want?" So I took his pen and went to take back the clip board, and as I did so I said " I'm going to report you." and he grabbed back the pen and clip board and said " ok you just got yourself a citation".

He goes back to his car, and later returns with the citation, handing it to me, along with his stupid pen. I took the clip board, and began to sign it with my pen; Whats he gonna do about it at this point? He actually hadn't figured that bit out yet because he again asked me to use his pen! I said "What are you gonna do if I don't, arrest me?" He nodded in concession, I signed my citation, and he stalked away without another word.

OK so I know my getting to use my pen on what is now a $103 citation phyrric victory. My husband says I should have been cheerful and compliant, and just gone along with him so as to minimize the damage a person with power over me can inflict. I know that is the more practical approach, but WTF! Is it really ok to threaten me with a citation because I question his insistance that I use his goddam cheap ass pen?!

I don't want to argue this in court; not the right forum. I do wish to report him to his supervisors. I'm sure more level headed, and reasonable people in law enforcement would want to know that one of their officers is an immature jerk on a power trip. I think something like this should go in his file...

Hive mind, how best to report this? Thanks

Your honor, the speed limit was too low!

relucent — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:27:59 -0800

Are there any legal grounds for challenging a speed limit as being unreasonable? I drive through a very small town on the way to work. The 2-lane highway is 55 mph before and after the town, but once you get inside the town, the road splits into 4 lanes and the speed limit drops to 45, 35 and then 20 within the span of about two city blocks. There is a stop light at the one intersection, but it is almost always green, so it doesn't do much to curb the inertia. No school zones.

I don't know if this is the same for everyone, but I normally have an intrinsic sense of the speed limit, such that I will almost always drive close to the speed limit even if I didn't see the sign. The road through this town is definitely a "35" road, and in fact I can't even drive under 30 unless I hold down the brakes the whole way through the town. 20 is nearly impossible for a 6-cylinder car. I typically catch myself going 40-42 mph because it feels natural.

This got me wondering: I could conceivably get my license suspended if I was clocked going 42 in a 20. There's always the route of challenging the cop's radar calibration, but I am wondering if there are any legal grounds for challenging the speed limit itself as being unreasonable. I realize this would require a more well-thought-out argument than "the speed limit was too low", but is there any way this could stand in court?

This is hypothetical, YANAL, YANML, etc. I'm just curious.

Tips on comparing contracts

devnull — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:31:49 -0800

How do you compare contracts? (or perhaps "How do lawyers compare contracts?") I had to sign a contract the other day. There were two copies of the contract and I had to sign each one. Before the meeting I was emailed a PDF of the contract to look through.

There is the potential here for each of the three copies of the contract to be different. I was wondering what strategies people have for dealing with this?

I would also be interested in less simple cases: comparing printed with electronic contracts; comparing contracts when the font size or paper size means the words wrap onto different lines.

The obvious answer is not to use a shortcut - to read each contract word by word, but there must be a trick here - what is it?