It's getting pretty disgusting

The latest media probe into the MJ children's lives is about a black-skinned grandmother raising her white-skinned grandchildren. How much more distasteful and offensive can the media get? Leave these children alone.

State of Emergency

Supersized portions have now led to supersized ambulances.

If you need a cot that supports 850-1600 pounds and a winch to move it, just so you can be transported to the emergency room because of a problem probably caused from overeating, doesn't a salad start looking pretty damn good? Or even a sandwich from the dollar menu?

Two of a kind

Jason Whitlock rants about dead-beat dads again. Yes, it's not about the affairs, it's about the kids.

You can throw Mark Sanford , along with Steve McNair , into the growing group of fathers abandoning their kids for some ego stroking.

Between these two, there are eight young sons, who hopefully will learn from some other male what being a good father is all about.

Private matters

Here's a few of my thoughts about the Michael Jackson media frenzy:

1. What's the big deal about MJ not leaving anything to his ex-wife? People rarely bequeath money to their ex-spouses. If they liked their ex that much, they would have stayed married. I wonder how many reporters are leaving money to their exes.

2. Why did MJ even mention her then? Well, probably because if you explicitly state in your will that you don't want anything to go to someone, they have a much weaker case if they try to overturn your will. California is a community property state so that statement in the will may be even more important there.

3. What's wrong with MJ's mother being the children's guardian? Yes, she is 79 and perhaps not in the best of health, but she is not a poor grandmother raising her orphan grandchildren all alone in a one room shack. These children have been raised with the help of a nanny all their lives, so why would that not continue to be the case? In addition, there is a large extended family to assist. I would imagine Mrs. Jackson will manage just fine.

4, Who cares about the executor of the will? The people with the real control are the trustees of MJ's trust. They will be handling the investments, accounting and distribution of MJ's assets to his beneficiaries. If you're not familiar with the difference, Candice Choi of AP wrote this good explanation.

5. Why are all MJ's finances so secret? Probably because he wanted it that way. The beauty of putting your assets in a trust is that your estate balance sheet is private. No media hounds or nosy neighbors can go to the local courthouse and find out how much your estate is worth. To some people, that is extremely important, whether they are world celebrities or just local folk who want their privacy.

I'm not a lawyer and I'm not familiar with California estate law, but I have been trustee and/or executor for many clients and relatives' estates and I do some estate planning in my occupation. Based upon my experience, the reclusive, private MJ got some good legal advice for obstructing the media from his beneficiaries' financial matters.

I've been there. Have you?

Here's a partial list of historical sites from this country's formative years that I've had the pleasure of visiting, some several times. Where have you been to experience early American history of independence?

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, PA
The Liberty Bell, Philadelphia, PA
Betsy Ross House, Philadelphia, PA
Valley Forge, PA
Monticello, Charlottesburg, VA
Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon, VA
Colonial Williamsburg, VA
Jameston, VA
The Mayflower/Plimouth Plantation
Yorktown, VA
Boston's Freedom Trail, Boston, MA
Plymouth Rock

and more.

Business in America

Sales of Atlas Shrugged have skyrocketed this year. Here is a good analytical comparison of the current state of doing business in America and Rand's famous novel.

Happy 4th of July.

Redirecting traffic

Web address re-directions are in the news.

Emily Fredrix of Associated Press examines what has happened to the websites of some of the big box stores that have closed their physical stores. Some people apparently think these stores are still selling merchandise and are placing orders with them. There's nothing wrong with that as long as you are aware of the fact that you are actually doing business with a different company.

Also in the news, Jay Leno has won the right to obtain a web address that was owned by someone else. "Having a legitimate reason" to register a website now seems to be a requisite for web address ownership. The former owner was using the site to redirect Web surfers to his real estate business For those who have registered web addresses as investments, they may now be at risk of losing their money.