Wrongful Death Suit: Shur Family v Utility, 2010

Mr. Shur froze to death in his apartment. 

Mr. Shur had a will. 

The will sent all of his hundreds of thousands of dollars to a charity (Bay Regional Hospital, NY) 

The family wants to sue the utility company for wrongful death, and collect money damages. 

It is unclear how at fault the utility company is, for the sake of this blog let us assume they are completely at fault in regards to Mr. Shurs death. In order for the family to recover, they must prove damages. Damages will be difficult to prove in an instance in which the dead family member was estranged from the family. A close friend of Mr. Shur may have better luck getting money from the Utility company.

If the relatives receive money it goes against justice. Mr. Shur felt a certain way about his family- I did not like you in life, I do not want you to benefit in my death. (Unless they can prove he did not snub them, but rather was a philanthropist, who felt his family did not need to inherit his money)

PREDICTION: Family will spend allot of money on lawyers and lose the lawsuit. Mainly because the utility company will argue thier actions did not directly kill Mr. Shur. They Utility company will ask why the family did for not check up on their elderly relative in the winter, something a reasonable family member would have done. 

Mr Shur died because his family did not care enough to make sure he did not freeze to death in an apartment, a phone call probably would have saved his life. 

AIG vs Senator Chuck Schumer... Why AIG will win

Background: AIG is a failing bank that has received billions of dollars in federal tax bailout money, in hopes to recover the sputtering economy. 

Controversy: AIG has decided to give bonuses to employees. A company who receives government handout should not be in a position to reward employees who presumably do not deserve such a bonus. President Obama and other politicians had vocally spoken out against these bonuses. 

"My colleagues and I are sending a letter to [AIG CEO Edward] Liddy informing him that he can go right ahead and tell the employees that are scheduled to get bonuses that they should voluntarily return them," Sen. Charles Schumer said on the Senate floor. "Because if they don't, we plan to tax virtually all of [the money] ... so it is returned to its rightful owners, the taxpayers."  (Source: CNN)

Why Schumer is wrong: You can not make laws directed at a select small group of people, that is oppressive and unconstitutional. The government gave these banks money, they can reward employees with that money no matter who wrong the government thinks they are this is not a national bank it is an AIG bank. 

RESOLUTION: There are 3 choices to stimulate the economy. 1)Nationalize the banks temporarily (Government calls shots like bonuses and lending)

2) Give the banks money and keep giving them money (what we are doing now, and then asking the banks to listen to the government)

3) Let the banks fail (do nothing, true capitalism) 

The best choice is #1 although there are great arguments for each. Give the government complete control temporarily and taxpayers like you and me won't have to worry about wasted spending like bonuses. 

Binghamton +21.5...Yes Please!

After I stormed the court and took a picture with Brodus gave D.J. Rivera (the real AEC MVP) a high five, I returned to my apartment and waited for Selection Sunday eager to find out who we would play in the dance.

DUKE...oh shit...or is it?

As a 15 seed we are expecting to get blown out of the water, we can beat Retrievers but not Blue Devils! 

But hold on a second, 

Duke is overrated, winning the ACC over Florida State earned them a 2 seed. 

Duke is probably not going beyond the sweet 16.

Duke has had bad luck in the tournament in the past.

Binghamton has nothing to prove.

Binghamton matches up well with Duke.

Binghamton and Duke are both small game teams.

Duke won the ACC (congratulations) and yes, the ACC is much (times 8) better than the AEC, but its also not the Big East. 

The Bearcats would rather play Duke, than any other 4 through 1 seed in the tournament. This has the possibility of being a close game.

My prediction for 3/20 game: Duke wins by 17 and does NOT cover the 21.5 point spread.