Your chances of death rated by activity. Climbing in the Himalayas is definitely a death wish, as is base jumping (and its cousin, wing suit flying). As a cyclist, I am bummed out to see the somewhat high risk of death for cycling.
Be careful out there. And prepare a will.
A local story has a probate court angle. The City of Cincinnati has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by an 11 year old shoplifter who was tasered after running from an off duty police officer. The young girl, who had been caught and warned previously for stealing from the same store, had $53 of stolen merchandise on her. She will receive $220,000 from the city and $20,000 from Kroger for the indignity of being tasered.
Several points and one prediction:
1. Because the girl is a minor, the settlement will be subject to probate court supervision until she turns 18.
2. Funds may only be spent with the approval of the probate court and then only for her mental health to overcome the trauma of being tasered.
3. She will have unrestricted access to the funds when she turns 18.
4. Call it more than a hunch that the number of shoplifting incidents at Kroger without repercussions will increase dramatically.
Photo Credit: Albert Cesare/Cincinnati Enquirer
License: Fair Use/Education (from linked article)
Elaine Chao, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, used my conference room today while waiting for a meeting to start down the hall. She was in town to discuss transportation issues with Congressman Chabot and representatives from Uber, Red Bike, and the Chamber of Commerce among others. She and her staff were incredibly gracious.
The estate is supposed to turn Mr. Indiana’s dilapidated house into a museum to display his works. The estate is now embroiled in litigation over the withdrawn cash and whether Mr. Indiana was actually producing new art at the time of his death.
A few points:
1. Situations involving wealthy elderly individuals with no close family are always difficult because there is so much potential for financial exploitation.
2. Sometimes the caretaker is the best person to serve as attorney in fact if there are no relatives and the individual has outlived all of his friends.
3. Still, $600K of withdrawals for an individual living on an island off the coast of Maine with no place to spend the money seems excessive.
4. The last thing our country needs is another remotely situated vanity based museum dedicated to an artist of modest reknown.
5. AC/DC apparently copied Mr. Indiana’s playbook of recycling/copying prior work to earn great wealth.
Photo Credit: Johnsonville Sausage
License: Fair Use/Education (from linked article)
When Aretha Franklin died last week after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, she allegedly did not leave a will. She is survived by her four sons, one of whom has special needs, who will receive equal shares of her estate. Her niece asked to be appointed as representative of her $80 million estate. Aretha’s copyright attorney told reporters that when there is no will, “there will always end up being a fight.”
Some points of relevant interest:
1. No one wins a long battle with pancreatic cancer. See Jobs, Steve. Prepare a will.
2. When a woman dies without a will, there should not be much to dispute because there are no illegitimate children to contest heirship.
3. The niece’s fee for serving as personal rep. could be $1.6 million. One of the sons should have dibs on this role.
4. Surprisingly, Madonna did not ask to be appointed as personal representative.
Photo Credit: Jae C. Hong/AP
License: Fair Use/Education (from linked article)
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