Doubleplusgood Infotainment (DPGI) is an observation and rant blog

I love these kinds of stories when the big bad guy gets his ass handed to him: Robber tussles with martial-arts expert, gets beaten and shot

A man who tried to rob a mixed martial-arts expert at gunpoint found himself no match for his intended victim this weekend, police said.

Anthony Miranda, 24, faces a charge of discharging a weapon during a robbery in the Southwest Side attack, which left him wounded in the ankle and badly bruised from his confrontation with the 33-year-old man he robbed, police said.

The victim was sitting in his car near Kenneth Avenue and 55th Street about 11:30 p.m. Friday when a man came up to the car and asked him for a light, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli.

The man in the car replied that he didn’t have a light, and the other man pulled out a handgun and demanded the driver’s valuables, Mirabelli said. The driver handed over his cash, wallet and valuables, and the gunman then ordered him out of the car.

At some point, the older man was able to grab hold of the handgun, and during a struggle, the robber discharged a round, striking himself in the ankle, Mirabelli said.

The victim was able to hold the robber until police arrived. When he turned the robber over to police, the victim told them that he participates in Ultimate Fighting Championships, a mixed-martial arts competition, Mirabelli said.

[...]

Miranda, of the 8900 block of Bronx Avenue in Skokie, is on parole in several 2007 residential burglary cases for which he was sentenced to six years in prison. He was released from prison in March 2010.

He previously served time for convictions in two 2005 burglary cases.

Back to the pokey for this waste of oxygen.

(ht: TAH)

When Silver Is Better than Gold

My tax bite is roughly 10% to California. For every dollar I make, ten cents goes to Sacramento. (Yes, I get a benefit from that in that state income tax is deductible on federal tax. However, because of the Alternative Minimum Tax even that benefit is capped.) For the past few years I’ve considered if I could move my business to a friendlier environment. Earlier this year, I decided to do so.

I’ve sold my house in Irvine, and am in the process of purchasing a home in the Las Vegas area. I will be in a much friendlier business environment, with a lower cost of living. The home I’m purchasing is nearly double the size of my current home and costs almost 50% less than what I sold my current home for.

There comes a point where decisions are forced on you. With the growth of my business, I looked at possibly hiring another tax accountant in 2010. When I ran the numbers, I found that I would lose money by hiring a productive tax accountant. That’s because of all the regulations and costs that I would immediately incur if I had an employee. I’m not stupid: If I lose money by hiring someone, I’m not going to do it.

Welcome to Nevada, please leave your failed government social engineering and wasteful spending at the border.