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On Sunday night my wife was at our local grocery store and while driving down the lane to park, another driver backed out of a space and hit the front of my wife's (fairly new) car. My wife had stopped moving and honked but the other driver continued backing out and hit her. The other driver apologized, including for causing my wife the annoyance of having to deal with insurance/repair, etc. She also called her own insurer to start the claim and explained that she'd backed into my wife's car. My wife explained she was stopped and honked. The other driver did not take my wife's insurance information nor did her insurer request it. My wife has the other driver's information. [more inside]
posted by rbf1138 at 5:12 PM - 8 answers

Asking for a friend in DC, but neither of us can find documentation. How long can a DC landlord leave a built-in microwave broken? My friend isn’t actually interested in legal action over this, we’re just curious. [more inside]
posted by OrangeVelour at 1:43 PM - 7 answers

Why did Trump wait for the new Congress to demand border wall money? [more inside]
posted by LonnieK at 7:45 AM - 11 answers

I remember a few years ago a MeFi post about some closed-door Congressional committee briefing where the participants were said to have left the briefing "visibly shaken" or "pale" or words to that effect ... [more inside]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:28 AM - 10 answers

By "regulatory environment" I mean not the biological, social, or moral aspects of reproduction, but what programs, policies, and laws are relevant to child-rearing in NYC? A random sampling of things I've researched on my own recently: 529 plans; NY state Paid Family Leave; NYC universal pre-K, mandatory kindergarten, and first grade age cutoff; postpartum depression screening; kindergarten gifted-and-talented program. None of this is obscure stuff, but I had to think to look for it. There's a real unknown-unknown problem here. Is there anybody that has collected this information for me? [more inside]
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 11:57 AM - 4 answers

(Besides the fact that we're more sensible.) I thought I knew the answer to this (in very general terms) until I read this piece in Slate, "The Shutdown to End All Shutdowns" -- the main point for me being that a continuing resolution to renew funding, in the absence of the passage of a money bill, might go on forever. Automatic CR legislation might be written in a way that gives one party in particular a reason to prefer it over passing a budget. [more inside]
posted by feelinggood at 8:15 AM - 6 answers

I'm having trouble finding information about protests and pressure tactics being used to help end the shut down. Does anyone know of anything? I'm assuming the main pressure tactics are getting the Democrats to hold strong for a clean bill with no wall funding, Republicans to fold and help pass legislation to over-ride a Trump veto, or for Trump to back down. [more inside]
posted by andoatnp at 3:26 PM - 4 answers

So, we just had something very strange happen. My husband's mother got a call from someone claiming to be from Jenkins Logistics (or something like that) regarding a "civil case" against him. The person provided a phone number and a case number. My husband called the number, and the person said they were from Smith and Watson, and that there was a civil lawsuit filed against my husband, but refused to give any further information unless my husband confirmed his SS# and birthdate, which my husband refused to do. [more inside]
posted by sarcasticah at 2:20 PM - 20 answers

A friend is engaged in a civil suit in Minnesota. The friend's lawyer has notified the other party that the lawyer is representing my friend. My friend has not received a corresponding notification from the other party's lawyer. Why? [more inside]
posted by Frowner at 7:31 AM - 9 answers

A family member is (*very unfortunately*) dealing with a legal situation that could possibly end with a short time in federal prison (Canada). [more inside]
posted by audio at 10:14 PM - 2 answers

I often hear that migrant labor fills jobs that "Americans don't want" or are hard to fill. Is this more true, as a result of our low unemployment rate and people choosing less back-breaking work, or more false, and these jobs under pay in order to keep costs artificially low at the grocery store? Ala, America needs a permanent underclass to ensure I can buy a quart of strawberries for $5.00.
posted by cgs at 2:42 PM - 24 answers

I have been asked to write an affidavit affirming that I have witnessed a friend to be a good parent. Have you done this? What did you include? It needs to be notarized - what does that mean given that I'm not literally composing it in front of the notary? [more inside]
posted by anonymous at 10:25 PM - 7 answers

I am interested in discussions, papers, theory, etc. about whether the proper role of government is to do what people want (which may not be useful) or what's advantageous for the country (which may not be popular). [more inside]
posted by saeculorum at 3:29 PM - 3 answers

In follow up to this question I'm wondering if a move out notice would be sufficient to prevent getting charged for the remainder of an apartment lease if I move out early. [more inside]
posted by ridogi at 12:07 PM - 5 answers

I am being recruited to work on a presidential campaign in a mid-level/professional position. My background is in policy. I have zero campaign or political experience. What are some good resources to learn about working on a modern campaign? Points if it's more focused on HQ and high-level work... I've found lots of stories of 22-year-old college grads doing scheduling/advance work and living on Red Bull and no showers. But what is it like to be one of the adults in the room? (Especially an adult with a family I'd sometimes like to see...)
posted by anonymous at 12:30 PM - 11 answers

You're not my solicitor, but I still want to ask you questions about issues relating to an inheritance. (How) can I refuse an inheritance under certain circumstances, ideally preemptively and bindingly? I'm in the UK. [more inside]
posted by Drexen at 10:46 AM - 11 answers

A non-profit organization with which I have a passing familiarity has recently come under scrutiny by the IRS. I am by no means a tax expert but I was reading over the organization's IRS Form 990 filing from 2015 (link in body) and found some things there which I don't understand. Can you help me figure out whether these apparent discrepancies might actually be fishy or whether I just don't sufficiently understand the form and its instructions? Details on what I don't understand are inside. [more inside]
posted by ish__ at 7:05 PM - 11 answers

The toilet in my master bedroom makes noise as it leaks and loudly refills itself constantly. This is very distracting to hear throughout the day, and I turn the water off at night so we can sleep. I started complaining in September and the maintenance company has sent a plumber out about 5-6 times. He says it is the "Maserati of toilets so It's going to require lots of maintenance" but he has been unable to fix it. How can I play hardball and get the landlord to replace this with whatever the Honda Civic of toilets is? [more inside]
posted by ridogi at 7:17 AM - 22 answers

If one lives in California but visits family in AZ often and intends to file & live in AZ after divorce, how do you establish & prove residency in AZ before and during divorce proceedings? [more inside]
posted by dealing away at 10:45 AM - 9 answers

We have an apartment lease in NJ that is up in the summer, but I would like to move before then and landlord’s brother is moving to town and asked if we wanted to move out early so he could get the apartment. Over email (a few weeks back) we hashed out details of the remaining rent payments (we stay until March 7, pay March pro rated, don’t pay remainder of lease, and security deposit is handled normally.) [more inside]
posted by ridogi at 2:51 PM - 6 answers