Acting Ed. note: Caleb has once again abandoned us so it's just you and me, kids. Amber, Greg and Braddock may or may not make an appearance. If you have juicy gossip, a complaint or just a general sort of observation, shoot me an email, hit me up on Twitter or send a catgram and I'll see what I can do. If you don't like what I'm writing about, you have the option to give me something to write about so go out and embezzle something so we all have something interesting to discuss. Now play nice, children!
School lunch accountant pleads not guilty to embezzling $1.8 million [LA Times] A former Rialto school district accountant accused of embezzling $1.8 million in schools' lunch money after being seen on video stuffing cash in her bra pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 16 felonies. After entering the not guilty pleas, Judith Oakes, 48, was held in lieu of $1.8-million bail by a San Bernardino County Superior Court judge.
New Jersey sues Standard & Poor's for fraud [USA Today] New Jersey is suing Standard & Poor's, making it at least the 19th state to claim in court that the bond-rating company defrauded the public by not disclosing its personal financial interest in the securities it ranked. New Jersey Acting Attorney General John Hoffman announced Wednesday that the state's lawsuit, which was filed in state Superior Court in Essex County, accuses S&P and its parent company, McGraw Hill Financial Inc., of three counts of violating the state's Consumer Fraud Act.
Philippines ranks restaurants for taxes, not food [AP] Next time you eat out in the Philippines, you might want to check the government's restaurant guide. It doesn't tell you where the best food is, but if you're possibly patronizing a tax cheat. The Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Finance Department have started running weekly ads in major newspapers and websites listing top-ranked restaurants based on TripAdvisor reviews along with the amount of tax each restaurant paid based on government figures. The latest ad Wednesday listed 40 top restaurants in metropolitan Manila's two cities, but only 17 of them were top tax payers — the implication is the others may be cheating.
Western U.S. best for business, Tax Foundation says [GovBeat via WaPo] For the third year in a row, Wyoming has fostered the nation’s best business climate, thanks to low rates on corporate and personal income taxes made possible by a booming oil industry, according to a new report from the Tax Foundation. In fact, six of the top 10 states with the best business climate are western states, bolstered at least in part by new revenues from energy production that allows them to reduce other types of taxes. In many cases, the top-ranked states omit at least one major stream of revenue altogether, such as an income tax or a sales tax.
Republicans consider short-term U.S. debt ceiling increase [Reuters] U.S. House of Representatives Republicans are considering signing on to a short-term increase in the government's borrowing authority to buy time for negotiations on broader policy measures, according to a Republican leadership aide.
PwC US Highlights Nine Disruptive Forces CEOs Need to Consider [TechZone360] [M]anagement and consulting firm PwC US is out with a new report that you may wish to spend some time with, The new digital ecosystem reality: Nine trends rewriting the rules of business. I must admit that what got me to read the report in its entirely was a pullout quote that goes as follows: "If change was as easy as a directive, then the companies that made 1999’s Fortune 500 list would not need to say goodbye to 238 of their peers a mere 10 years later, a change of almost 50 percent from the 1999 Fortune 500 to the 2009 Fortune 500.” In a word, WOW!
IRS official Sarah Hall Ingram denies practicing witchcraft during House hearing [Federal Eye] Well glad we cleared that up.
Deloitte Global Leadership visits Nigeria, to focus on Africa [The Guardian Nigeria] They may or may not be looking for a rich uncle with no beneficiaries.
