AnswerMom

The Advertising Tax Hurts Affiliates

Many of you know that I have a small business publishing websites. Here in Virginia, small businesses like mine have been threatened by an “affiliate nexus tax”. The Supreme Court ruled in 1992 that in order for a state to require a company to collect and pay sales tax, they had to have a physical [...]

Is Atlas Shrugging?

The city government of that conservative, anti-tax community [Colorado Springs] had a huge hole carved in its budget... When the city proposed tripling property taxes to make up the shortfall, the indignant citizenry said: No way. As a result, the city is cutting back on virtually all public spending. "Quite clearly, our appetite for government services now exceeds our willingness—indeed, our ability—to pay..."

To Vaccinate or Not To Vaccinate

Now that I have your attention, I will clarify that I’m specifically referring to the H1N1 vaccination, not all vaccinations. In keeping with the fact that I am a moderate (I actually fall at the intersection where the Left/Right axis intersects with the Authoritarian/Libertarian axis on the Political Spectrum Quiz – it says that I [...]

Something To Make You Smile

Thanks to Deanna for sharing on FB.

A Story in Contrasts

This week, I posted a link to this article on my Facebook page, thinking that it was refreshing to finally see someone (a prominent German fashion magazine even) rejecting the distorted image of unhealthy, underweight woman as models. I thought maybe the tide was turning, but alas, it is not. Today on Yahoo news I [...]

I Can’t Imagine Who Would Want To See Their Baby on a Dinner Plate

But Martha Stewart apparently thinks there is a market for babies dressed up to look like dinner. I would make this a full blog post, but honestly I can’t think of anything to say about this creepy costume.

Do What You Enjoy

I’ve been interviewed a few times by reporters interested in how people start entrepreneurial businesses, and there is one thing I always share: Don’t look for a business ideas that have earning potential, take something that you love or in which you are interested and figure out how to make it a business. Is there [...]

Some Things Are Just Too Outragious To Ignore

This story in the NYT left me momentarily speechless, then I found my tongue. Zachary Christie was suspended from his school in Newark, Delaware. “Zachary’s offense? Taking a camping utensil that can serve as a knife, fork and spoon to school. He was so excited about recently joining the Cub Scouts that he wanted to use [...]

What’s Wrong with Conventional Food Processing

Trail of E. Coli Shows Flaws in Inspection of Ground Beef – Meat processing is a scary industry. Crowded feed lots where animals stand in their own manure greatly increase the chances that E. coli will contaminate the meat. Poor conditions in the slaughter houses, who are pushed to process more and more animals/hour, provide [...]

Cheap Food Isn’t Really Cheap

We live in a time when food is less expensive than it has probably ever been yet, the cost of that food is higher than ever. From HFCS to factory-farmed meat, the food we eat is shortening our life-spans and making us sick. Check out some of these articles for more information about where your food really comes from.