Taxing Each Bite
What to expect when food purchases hit the scanner: Hot, prepared food is taxed; food a person takes home or cold food prepared in advance is not ["Soup to Nuts: Crazy Food Taxes Penalize the Poor, Benefit the Rich," Joe Eskenazi, feature, 4/4]. As anyone would expect, life is not simple and there are gray areas between these categories. Many cases need to be considered and decided on their own, often in a less-than-perfect way. It's an interesting piece. But the "penalizes the poor and benefits the rich" subhed? Meh. That's a stretch.
Anadromic
Web Comment
Plucking a Pension
It's not like he ate anybody: How many years did Ross Mirkarimi work for the city before he was elected supervisor? Had to be at least 10 or more to amount to such a pension ["Moral Mirkitude: Nixing the Sheriff's Pension Would Be a Feat," Joe Eskenazi, Sucka Free City, 4/4]. The health benefits are worth a lot, very expensive if covering dependents. I believe recall is the better method for removing Mirkarimi from office in this case. Leave the man's pension alone — he is not Hannibal Lecter, for christ's sake.
Sfsoma
Web Comment
Blog Comments of the Week
Disrespect for road rules is found on both four and two wheels: Too bad [citizens] can't stop the types of unsavory and thuggish behavior of bullies on wheels — from road rage to cyclists who feel entitled to disobey traffic laws ["Sutchi Hui, Pedestrian Hit by Cyclist in Castro Last Week, Dies," Erin Sherbert, the Snitch, 4/4].
Guest
Web Comment
May not be in good taste, but it's legal: Sorry, as much as I hate to stand on the side of Arkansas and teacher/student sex — 18 is 18 ["James Hooker and Jordan Powers Should Maybe Move to Arkansas Where Student-Teacher Sex Is Legal," Erin Sherbert, the Snitch, 4/3]. In this country, a person is legally an adult at 18 and can make adult decisions for him- or herself. The government shouldn't make some [types] of decisions illegal for consenting adults — like having sex with a teacher. The teachers' union can create that rule, but not the government. And by the way, do people really want the government micromanaging the legal decisions of two adults?
Anon
Web Comment
A voter's age does not matter: It's not easy finding articles about Ron Paul that are not riddled with opinions, although I guess the same is true for most politicians ["Ron Paul Counts Bay Area Tech Companies Among Top Donors," Albert Samaha, the Snitch, 4/3]. It's the subtle things that bother me though — referring to CSU Chico as a well-known party school and many of his supporters as college kids. I'd like to find an article about one of the other Republican candidates, something like this: "Romney/Santorum/Gingrich held a town hall meeting today at the local nursing home, sparsely attended by their following of predominantly senior citizens." If someone is eligible to vote, an article shouldn't be written belittling voters' ages.
Rob
Web Comment
Clarification
In the flowchart accompanying our cover story last week ("Soup to Nuts," Joe Eskenazi, April 4), we noted that "anything made to order is taxed." The law states that a cold sandwich or meal prepared on-site and taken to-go should not be taxed. That said, a number of restaurants we spoke with are taxing such purchases, or taxing the purchase of a pre-made cold meal when additions are made to it on-site. And, of course, a cold sandwich put in the toaster or microwave is taxable (unless you put it in the toaster or microwave).
In short, these laws are Byzantine. SF Weekly has company in misreading them.
