Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Round 'Em Up

-- California Assemblyman Evan Low introduced a bill that would fine stores with more than 500 employees $1,000 if they marketed toys or clothes in spaces segregated by sex. In other words, if G.I. Joe is not on the same aisle as Barbie, then someone is going to get a ticket. I have no idea if there is marketing research that shows whether separate or mixed areas make for better sales for stores. I don't live in California or shop for toys so I don't really care what burdens its representatives want to inflict on its businesses. But then I read the rationale for Assemblyman Low's introduction of the bill: "A spokeswoman for Low’s office said that inspiration for the bill came from the 9-year-old daughter of one of Low’s staffers. The child told Low that she didn’t like how boy and girl sections were separated and that he should make a law against that." Since this is either A) untrue or B) one of the stupidest reasons possible for passing a law I think someone ought to put Assemblyman Low's proposal in the closeout aisle.

-- Writing in Mother Jones, assistant editor Becca Andrews recalls a 2017 interview in which Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg said since he was 75 and had a lot of things to do, he might run for "president of my block association, but not much more than that." Some folks might believe that the former NYC mayor has changed his mind, but I'm not so sure. Given Mr. Bloomberg's limited understanding of what it takes to farm and his belief that people from Texas pronounce it "Tay-has," he might very well be, in his mind, running for the president of his block association. Because his block is the only part of the country that matters, ya see.

-- Former FBI Director James Comey, who managed to find almost all of the wrong steps he could take in his job during the 2016 campaign and afterwards, tweeted his endorsement of former Vice-President Joe Biden. A member of Mr. Biden's campaign responded by making fun of Mr. Comey. Despite this obvious play for my support, I remained a registered independent and did not vote for Mr. Biden in today's primary election.

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