CIMA Law Group Blog

Taking Steps Towards Sustainability

With the effects of climate change continuing to grow, being sustainable is more important now than ever. Some people are taking major steps toward being sustainable, like adding solar panels to their homes or going zero waste, only buying compostable and reusable goods. However, this is not something that everyone wants to do or can afford to do. Even so, anyone can be sustainable by taking any small actions that they can. Imperfect action is still action. If everyone begins taking small steps, they will amount to much more. The next problem arises because many don’t know what they can do or what will be impactful. Hopefully, these next ideas will help you start your journey towards sustainability.

My first tip is probably something you already do, but it is to get a reusable water bottle. Getting a reusable water bottle that is sturdy and will last, will not only help reduce the consumption of plastic water bottles but also help your wallet.

My second tip is to start bringing reusable bags to the grocery store. Bringing reusable bags to the grocery store is an easy way to reduce your consumption of plastic bags. Many grocery stores and other shops sell reusable bags next to the checkout and they are usually under a dollar. Some grocery stores have small discounts (¢5-¢10) for each reusable bag that you use during your shopping trip. While this may not seem like much, a penny saved is a penny earned. If the bags begin to get grimy from usage, they can be thrown into the wash. Additionally, reusable bags are stronger than plastic or paper bags, so you won’t have to worry about the bags breaking and spilling your groceries on the ground.

If you have a pet, my third tip is also probably something you already do. If you forget to bring your reusable bags to the store with you, begin saving your old plastic bags. If you have pets, these are a great way to pick up after your pet, instead of buying more. This will not only help the environment but your wallet.

My final tip is to start recycling your batteries. Batteries contain harmful chemicals and when in the landfill, these chemicals begin to seep into the soil and spread. The company, BatteriesPlus, takes all types of batteries, old light bulbs, and small electronics.

I hope that these tips are useful and will help you take steps towards being more sustainable and taking care of the environment.

This blog post is part of the CIMA Law Group blog. If you are located in Arizona and are seeking legal services, CIMA Law Group specializes in Immigration Law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations.

Chess is Making a Resurgence

After the tremendous success of the award-winning series the Queen’s Gambit, chess boxing, and memes, Chess has made a monstrous return to mainstream media and the homes of millions of people worldwide. In fact, the most popular chess website Chess.com just surpassed the threshold of ten million active daily users. No grandmasters or analysts in the world could have successfully predicted this historic rise in popularity.

To fully comprehend this unprecedented resurrection of Chess, one must look towards the success of the legendary miniseries the Queen’s Gambit, which began streaming in October 2020. After the initial release, hundreds of thousands if not millions of players flocked or returned to Chess. To be more specific, since its Netflix debut, Sixty-two million member accounts have watched the seven-episode limited series over the first 28 days of its release. In addition, I played Chess competitively for five years and completely burned out towards the middle of high school. However, after binging this legendary show, my passion for Chess remerged tenfold. Nowadays, I find myself playing several hours a week against those who share my love for the beautiful game.

Chess boxing appears to be another not very intelligent but ambitious idea that seems to fail in theory but excel in practicality. In December of 2022, various streamers on Twitch and Youtube brought in millions of viewers over just one day. With the event combining the pool of hobbyists in boxing and chess, Chess was given another opportunity to explode in popularity, elevating the influence of Chess to where it continues to expand today.

US hits the debt ceiling: What it is and what will happen if it isn’t raised

What is the debt limit and why does it matter?

The debt limit is the total amount of money that the US government is authorized to borrow from the treasury to meet its existing legal obligations, such as military salaries, interests on the national debt, tax refunds, and Social Security and Medicare benefits. As of last Thursday, the US hit its $31.4 debt ceiling, forcing the treasury to take measures to allow the government to keep paying its legal obligations such as its debts, Social Security payments, Medicare and Medicaid billing, and others. This is particularly concerning, given that according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yelle, the US government is expected to run out of money for its obligations in mid-June, after which the US would be in danger of defaulting on its debt that it currently refinances through treasury money. Therefore, it is imperative that congress raises the debt ceiling, given that federal spending is not only used to finance mandatory programs that people depend on (i.e social security, federal retirement programs) but is also a portion of the overall US economy.

How would a potential default affect financial markets?

The U.S. defaulting on its debt could threaten the value of the U.S. dollar, which has the potential to threaten the value of bonds and equities. Currently the US dollar is known as the world’s reserve currency, thanks to the US government’s reputation of always paying off its debts. Relating to bonds, a default can cause investors to lose confidence in the U.S’s ability to pay its bonds, which has historically been viewed as a safe investment. This can cause some investors to pursue international equities and foreign government bonds, which can have a negative impact on the US economy because of less US investment. Although such a situation has never happened, a similar standoff occurred in 2011 over the debt ceiling, which downgraded the U.S. credit rating for the first time and where there was a huge push to sell off stocks. Because a similar situation has occurred once, it is possible to expect a worse outcome if the US government were to default on its debt. Therefore, both parties in congress should work to raise the debt ceiling to a level where the federal government can pay off its obligations at least until the next appropriations process.

Examples of Logical Fallacies in How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014)

The beloved sitcom, How I Met Your Mother aired in the fall of 2005 and continued for nine seasons, ending in early 2014. Over the years, this CBS sitcom gained popularity as a funny and heartwarming show that filled the gap left by the end of the popular TV show Friends when it ended in 2004. Like many television shows, How I Met Your Mother also includes many key examples of logical fallacies, often to add comedic drama, conversational dialogue, or reveal errors in the character’s reasoning.

Logical fallacies are any kind of error in reasoning that renders an argument invalid. This can include distorting or manipulating facts, drawing false conclusions, or distracting from the actual issue. There are many types of logical fallacies, but we will focus on events that include Ad hominem, circular reasoning, and post hoc.

Ad Hominem

In the Season 3 episode, Dowisetrepla, Ted, Barney, and Robin are talking about an argument that their married friends, Lily and Marshall, were fighting about. While Ted and Barney made guesses based on observation, Robin knew what Lilly and Marshall were fighting about because of a conversation she had had with Lilly.

Robin says, “I know what they were fighting about, and it wasn’t peanut butter.” Rather than listening to her, Ted replies, “I know what they were fighting about, and it wasn’t peanut butter.” An Ad Hominem argument attacks the individual making the argument while ignoring the argument itself. Ted’s retort had nothing to do with Robin’s argument but instead insulted her to undermine her argument.

Circular Reasoning

In the season 5 episode Dual Citizenship, Robin, originally from Canada, is deciding whether or not to apply for American citizenship. During a conversation with her friend Barney, Barney states, “It’s not gonna be easy, this test. It’s not like the Canadian citizenship test.” When Robin asks how Barney knows the Canadian citizenship test is easy, he replies, “It’s Canada.” This is an example of circular reasoning because it relies on the conclusion being confirmed for the premise to be true. In this case, Barney believes the Canadian citizenship test is easy because it’s a Canadian citizenship test.

Post Hoc

A post hoc fallacy claims that because two things occurred sequentially, the first event caused the second. This fallacy is the central piece of How I Met Your Mother, as the narrator, Ted, uses this argument to support his cause for storytelling. At the beginning of the show, Ted is sitting with his children and decides to tell them the story of how he met their mother. Although the way he met their mother is unrelated to the majority of the stories in the series, as Ted only meets his future wife in episode 207 out of 208 episodes. Still, because the events that occurred in the first 207 episodes eventually led to the day he met their mother, he includes them in his story.

What to wear in 2023

Staying up to date on the trends and knowing what’s in and what’s out can be very hard. Fashion experts may think this is extremely important to stay updated on, while most people may just want to know the most essential style changes. Keeping an eye out for the biggest new fashion trends can help you avoid looking outdated and help elevate your wardrobe. To get a better understanding of what to wear in 2023, I will break it down into three categories: trends from 2022 coming into 2023; new trends for 2023; what not to wear in 2023. After looking through many websites, I chose the trends that seemed to re-appear the most throughout.

What fashion trends are going from 2022 to 2023?

Barbiecore, which is that shade of Barbie pink.
Low-rise jeans, like what they wore in the early 2000s.
Corset tops, not just tops but dresses too.

2. What are the potential new trends for 2023?

Cobalt Blue, to go along with the Barbiecore.

Feathery detailing, this will no longer just be for New Year’s.
Sheer fabric, that can be used over an outfit or as an outfit.

3. What clothes to stop wearing in 2023?

Skinny jeans, but hopefully you haven’t worn those in years though.

Puffy sleeves and puffer jackets.

Super mini skirts, the small ones from the early 2000s.

Remember that at the end of the day, you should wear whatever clothes make you feel comfortable, confident, and happy.

Eat Everything

So Dunkin Donuts throws away their donuts at the end of the day. Some employees claim that they are subject to termination if they eat, take, or share these day old donuts with anyone. Every year, 119 billion pounds of food goes to waste in the United States alone with an estimated 30-40% of food supply going to waste. The consequences of this pushes us further into global warming.

Food waste greatly increases the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. The production of food in general creates a ton of waste, especially now that food production has been commercialized. This means that by the time the food goes from the fork to your mouth, it, or rather you, have already created an enormous amount of pollution.

So here’s my thing. There are big scale things that we can do to reduce our carbon foot print when it comes to food waste. There’s a lot of things we can do. But here’s something that I’ve noticed a lot of people don’t do. Eat all their food. Many of us live such a privileged life when it comes to food. We will buy something and then throw it away if it doesn’t taste good! Can you imagine? My challenge to you is to choose your food intentionally, and eat it all. Even if you don’t like it. We are grown adults who have a lot of autonomy, so let’s use it wisely.

The Book That Helped Impact the Future of the Environment

Environmental consciousness has grown over the past few decades but Silent Spring is the most significant ripple effect. The environmental icon of the twenty century, Rachel Carson, wrote and published Silent Spring, which was the most influential book to band DDT. The pesticide known as DDT, dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, is great at diminishing harmful insect populations. The extremely harmful effects on humans would be vomiting, tremors, and seizures. Wildlife as well experienced similar harmful effects from pesticides.

Silent Spring was published in the 1960s and during this period, the pesticide industry made well over $300,000,000 to help combat these nuisance species. Carson had received numerous death threats and slander from various chemical companies. The personal costs and risks were worth it. During her four years of writing the book, she was fighting breast cancer, the leading factor to publish the book.
After 100,000 hardcover copies sold and many interviews later, President John F. Kennedy’s Science Advisory Committee investigated her findings. Carson’s book prompted the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act in 1964 to close a loophole and create the first passage of the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976.

Silent Spring is known in the environmental community as a ‘must read’ book. As a scientistic, I loved reading this book and recommend anyone interested in environmentalism to do the same.

McCarthy Narrowly Hangs on to Speakership; GOP House Targets IRS

In historic fashion, Kevin McCarthy was able to hang on to his position as Speaker of the House. Many right leaning house members felt that McCarthy was unworthy to retain the position, so they were reluctant to give him the necessary votes without major concessions and rules packages. Two of the major packages include spending cuts on legislation meant to raise the debt limit, and a cap on discretionary spending. Democrat representatives fear these rules and packages will lead to a government shutdown later in the year.

The first major policy decision made by the new GOP House was to target the IRS. Specifically, the goal was to slash IRS funding and undo legislation that expanded the agency, which was passed by the outgoing Democrat led House. The rules package would reverse Biden’s $80 billion overhaul of the IRS, including the hiring of 87,000 new IRS agents/employees. Unfortunately for the GOP, it is likely that the motion will not pass the Democrat led Senate.

This move by McCarthy and the GOP House signifies a commitment to campaign promises and attempts to roll back the legislative agenda of the Biden Administration. Many democrats argue however, that Republicans are cutting IRS funding in order to protect major corporations and the rich from IRS audits.

Is This the End of the Fantastic Beasts Franchise

In 2016, the first movie of the Fantastic Beasts franchise hit the theaters. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themfollows Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne, as he tries to local the magical creatures that accidentally escaped his leather suitcase. With the help of Tina Goldstein, Queenie Goldstein, and muggle Jacob Kowalski—played by Katherine Waterson, Alison Sudol, and Dan Fogler—the group finds themselves unraveling a secret that no one expected. The movie was a hit, to say the least. With a budget of $175-200 million, the box office made around $814 million and the film received a score of 74% on Rotten Tomatoes.

It was clear that a sequel inevitable.

The second instalment followed quickly and hit the theaters in 2018: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. With a returning cast and a mystery still to be explored, many Harry Potter fans were excited and thrilled by the continuation. Yet there was some disappointment. Some viewers found the “increasingly jumbled story and confusing narrative” overwhelming. The sudden addition of a new Dumbledore that was never mentioned in the Harry Potter series left others feeling conflicted and disappointed, and the “elephant in the room that was Johnny Depp” had some people hesitant (the movie came out during the time of the Depp vs. Heard accusations). Compared to the hit first movie, this film earned a “paltry 37% on Rotten Tomatoes and became the lowest-grossing Harry Potter movie” at the time—earning “$653.8 million from a reported budget of $200 million”.

This left the Fantastic Beasts franchise in the air. No one was sure whether or not there would be a third movie…and some people weren’t even sure if they wanted one. But then there was news of the third movie in production and that it was planned to be released in November 2022. It was also announced that Johnny Depp would not be appearing in the third installment; instead, Depp was replaced with Mads Mikkelsen. However, due to COVID-19, the movie’s release date was pushed back to 2022 and was hence released on April 15, 2022.

To date, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is the lowest-grossing Harry Potter film. With a budget of $200 million, the film earned only $404.5 million and received a score of 46%. A score higher than Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald but lower than Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Now, will there be more?

Well, Warner Bros. had originally stated that Fantastic Beasts would only be a trilogy. However, “in October 2016, it was announced that the planned three-film franchise would expand to include five films”. That being said, the fourth movie was announced to be in production and “could be released as early as the fall of 2024”.

In the fall of 2022, it was officially announced by Warner Bros. that Fantastic Beasts 4 was no longer in development. It is unknown to whether or not Fantastic Beasts will be continued but Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav “says that there is potential to work with Rowling on future Harry Potter projects”.

Personally, I believe that it’s time to stop the Fantastic Beast series and focus on something else. Maybe the Marauder Era—or maybe the storyline of Tom Riddle’s parents. What do you think? Is there something you wish Warner Bros. would further explore?

What Are YOUR Colors?

Having a closet full of clothes is one thing but finding good outfits can be much harder. One way to make this easier is to know your ‘color pallet’ or ‘color season’, meaning what colors look best on you. While there are a few ways to determine this, it is important to remember to wear whatever colors and clothes make you feel the best!

The best way to start is to determine what the undertones are in your skin. The shade of your skin (your skin tone) can vary based on sun exposure or your genetics. However, undertones always remain the same and apply to everyone no matter how fair or deep your skin tone is. In addition, figuring out your undertones can also help you find the makeup shade that matches you best.

There are three main undertones: Cool, Warm, and Neutral. Cool undertones give the skin hints of pink or blue tones; warm undertones give the skin hints of yellow, peach, or gold tones; neutral undertones are when the skin gives hints of both cool and warm tones. For most people, this isn’t something that can be easily determined so experts have come up with a series of easy tests to help figure it out on your own. Different websites give a multitude of different tips, but these are the three that appear consistently:

Do you prefer gold or silver jewelry?
1. Gold? Warm tones
1. Silver? Cool tones
1. Switch between both? Neutral tones
In natural lighting, does your skin appear more yellow or pink compared to white?
1. Yellow? Warm tones
1. Pinkish? Cool tones
1. Don’t really see a change? Neutral tones
Looking at the inside of your wrist, do your veins appear blue/purple or greenish?
1. Blue/purple? Cool tonesGreenish? Warm tones
1. A mix of both? Neutral tones

This may leave you more confused, so here are some websites that were the most helpful to me! The first is a video that breaks it down if hearing someone is better for you. This is a quick quiz that asks a few questions and then figures it out for you. While this article is long, it was the most helpful in understanding this overwhelming topic.