January 11, 2006
Dear IRS
Enclosed is my 2005 tax return showing that I owe $3,407.00 in taxes.
Please note the attached article from US Today, wherein you will see that the Pentagon is paying $171.50 for hammers and NASA has paid $600.00 for a toilet seat.
I am enclosing four toilet seats (value $2400) and six hammers (value $1029), bringing my total remitted to $3429.00. Please apply the overpayment of $22.00 to the “Presidential Election Fund,” as noted on my return. You can do this inexpensively by sending them one 1.5” Phillips Head screw (article from USA Today detailing how HUD pays $22.00 each for 1.5” Phillips Head Screws is enclosed for your convenience.).
It has been a pleasure to pay my tax bill this year, and I look forward to paying it again next year.
Sincerely,
Mr. US Citizen
New Narnia movie on the way
Jan 10, 2006 To the surprise of many, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ has ended up as one of the most successful movies of 2005... (It wasn't a surprise to me...)
…Variety confirms that not only is a ‘Narnia’ sequel happening, but it’s already moving ahead. Disney and Walden Media are already starting on a script for the follow up, to be based on the second book in C.S. Lewis’ classic fantasy series entitled ‘Prince Caspian’...
http://movies.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1074765.php/New_Narnia_movie_on_the_way
‘Narnia’ Box Office worldwide total: $531 million
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=narnia.htm
A good thought provoking presentation.
http://www.interviewwithgod.com/patriotic/highband.htm
Airline bans Bibles, crucifixes and teddy bears to avoid offending Muslims
(I wonder what the Muslim worlds reaction would be if we banned anything remotely related to their culture. Oh, we have and they have whined and went running to the ACLU)
January 9, 2006- A British airline banned its staff from taking Bibles and wearing crucifixes or St. Christopher medals on flights to Saudi Arabia to avoid offending the country’s Muslims.
British Midland International also has told female flight attendants they must walk two paces behind male colleagues and cover themselves from head to foot in a headscarf and robe known as an abaya, the Mirror newspaper of London reported.
Teddy bears or other cuddly toys also are not allowed.
Airline officials, who have sparked outrage, the paper says, explain the Islamic kingdom’s strict laws prohibit public practice of Christianity and figures of animals.
...An airline employee who asked not to be named told the Mirror: “It’s outrageous that we must respect their beliefs but they’re not prepared to respect ours.”
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48269
Consistently Inconsistent
The purpose of Senate hearing in the US Supreme Court Justice Nomination process is to ensure that the nominee is technically qualified for the position, not to weed out nominees that one party just does not like.
For instance when Clinton nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg her nomination went through without much discussion even though she was a well known liberal ACLU lawyer. Conservatives agreed that while they may not like her positions she was technically qualified and she was confirmed with very little discussion or opposition from Republicans.
When President Bush nominated John Roberts to the US Supreme Court Senator Schumer stated that Roberts had to answer more specific questions than previous nominees because he had not been a judge and as a result there was no history to look at.
When President Bush nominated Judge Alito to the US Supreme Court Senator Schumer stated for the record that Alito had to answer more specific questions than previous nominees because he had been a judge and had been prolific in his writings and there was so much history to review and question him on.
Another thing Schumer is saying is that it is “triply important” that Alito be forthcoming and answer specific questions about specific potential cases because he was nominated to occupy a “swing” seat, or vote, on the Supreme Court, vacated by O’Connor. Sorry Chucky, there ain’t no such thing as a “swing” anything on the Supreme Court.
D.B.
‘Affluent beggars’ have made as much as $800 a dayCouple supports family through panhandling
January 8, 2006- The first time Elizabeth Johnson stopped a stranger on the street to ask for money, she was really nervous...That was six years ago now in hindsight, she believes she was socially conditioned to think that if you ask people for money something is wrong with you.
Now Johnson and her 34-year-old partner, Jason Pancoast, who have been together for 14 years, support themselves and their three children by panhandling.
Pancoast refers to himself and his family as “affluent beggars.”
“If you’re an affluent beggar you stay in a hotel and eat a continental breakfast,” he says. “It makes it a lot easier to be philosophical about it.”
Carrying her smiling baby in a navy blue front pack and pushing Adrianne in a green jogging stroller, Johnson stops people on the street and asks them for money to find shelter for her children. (so she’s lying and she’s not...)
...According to Pancoast, begging can be lucrative. He claims the family sometimes makes $300 a day asking for money and has made as much as $800. The family also receives $500 a month in food stamps.
But the presence of a well-fed, well-dressed family begging from strangers on the streets does not sit well with some Ashland locals...
“I always felt bad for her because she had a baby in the hot summer sun,” says Debbie, “That kind of thing tugs on anyone’s heartstrings.”
But then Debbie saw Pancoast drop Johnson off at the Ashland Waldorf-inspired experimental classes at Willow Wind, part of the Ashland public school system, in a nice car and kiss her and the baby goodbye. “Then I became a little bitter,” Debbie says. “I was working my tail off at three jobs — waitressing and babysitting — and I see her eating at restaurants that are so expensive I can’t afford to eat there.”
...Johnson says she doesn’t want to get a job because it would keep her away from her children.
Pancoast says he would like to get a job, but finding suitable employment has been difficult. His lack of experience and difficulty with jobs in the past make it even more challenging.
...The couple who adopted Erik [one of two of their children they gave up for adoption] flew Johnson and Pancoast out to the Bay Area and helped them find a place to live and jobs. Pancoast worked at a record store until he was fired, and then at a fish market, until he lost that job as well. Debbie [has] worked in retail... (oh, so the problem isn’t getting a job, it’s keeping it...) http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/0108/local/stories/01local.htm
I remember when I lived in Missouri a lady in my car-pool told me about her brother who owned his own construction company stopping and offering a man holding a "will work for food" work. The bum said he couldn't take it because he was starting his vacation the next day. I also remember in the paper when they did some investigating on the pan-handlers at the exit ramps on the highways and many declined help when told about social services and were offered rides there or to shelters. Some admitted to making $300 a day. Many had very nice cars. It's people like them that give the truely needy a bum rap.
D.B.
The poverty hype
By Walter E. Williams
http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/walterwilliams/2006/01/04/180969.html
A Look at Other Scientific Frauds
10 Jan- A South Korean university panel concluded Seoul scientist Hwang Woosuk fabricated his claims that he cloned human embryos and extracted stem cells from them, and that he developed 11 stem cell lines tailored to specific patients. Here are some notable research frauds over the past three decades:
** Nutrition researcher Eric Poehlman, formerly of the University of Vermont College of Medicine, pleaded guilty last year to fraud in obtaining a $542,000 federal grant. Prosecutors said he made up research between 1992 and 2000 to win millions of dollars in federal grant money for studies in such areas as menopause, aging and hormone supplements.
** Last March, Dr. Gary Kammer, a Wake Forest University rheumatology professor and leading lupus expert, was found to have made up two families and their medical conditions in federal grant applications. He resigned from the university and was suspended from receiving federal grants for three years.
** In 2004, federal officials found that Dr. Ali Sultan, then an award- winning malaria researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, had plagiarized text and figures, and falsified his data _ substituting results from one type of malaria for another _ on a grant application for federal funds to study malaria drugs. Sultan resigned.
** As a researcher at Bell Labs, Jan Hendrik Schon made up or altered data in electronics experiments at least 16 times between 1998 and an investigation concluded. He was fired in 2002.
** The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said in 2002 that its reported discovery of two chemical elements in 1999 was based on bogus research. The results were retracted in 2001.
** Stephen Breuning, a well-known research psychologist, pleaded guilty in 1988 to falsifying research data on drug therapies for mentally retarded children while working for the University of Pittsburgh.
** In 1981, Dr. John Darsee, a Harvard cardiologist and medical researcher, was found to have faked data in an experiment on heart attacks in dogs. He was later found to have made up much of his data in more than 100 papers published over 14 years while he worked at Harvard and Emory University. Darsee was dismissed and cut off from federal research funds for 10 years.
** In 1974, Dr. William Summerlin resigned from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York after admitting he had forged an experiment on the immune system’s reaction to foreign tissue. He used a dark, felt-tipped pen on a white mouse and made it appear that tissue had been grafted successfully from a black mouse. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/10/D8F20IR80.html
Enclosed is my 2005 tax return showing that I owe $3,407.00 in taxes.
Please note the attached article from US Today, wherein you will see that the Pentagon is paying $171.50 for hammers and NASA has paid $600.00 for a toilet seat.
I am enclosing four toilet seats (value $2400) and six hammers (value $1029), bringing my total remitted to $3429.00. Please apply the overpayment of $22.00 to the “Presidential Election Fund,” as noted on my return. You can do this inexpensively by sending them one 1.5” Phillips Head screw (article from USA Today detailing how HUD pays $22.00 each for 1.5” Phillips Head Screws is enclosed for your convenience.).
It has been a pleasure to pay my tax bill this year, and I look forward to paying it again next year.
Sincerely,
Mr. US Citizen
New Narnia movie on the way
Jan 10, 2006 To the surprise of many, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ has ended up as one of the most successful movies of 2005... (It wasn't a surprise to me...)
…Variety confirms that not only is a ‘Narnia’ sequel happening, but it’s already moving ahead. Disney and Walden Media are already starting on a script for the follow up, to be based on the second book in C.S. Lewis’ classic fantasy series entitled ‘Prince Caspian’...
http://movies.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1074765.php/New_Narnia_movie_on_the_way
‘Narnia’ Box Office worldwide total: $531 million
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=narnia.htm
A good thought provoking presentation.
http://www.interviewwithgod.com/patriotic/highband.htm
Airline bans Bibles, crucifixes and teddy bears to avoid offending Muslims
(I wonder what the Muslim worlds reaction would be if we banned anything remotely related to their culture. Oh, we have and they have whined and went running to the ACLU)
January 9, 2006- A British airline banned its staff from taking Bibles and wearing crucifixes or St. Christopher medals on flights to Saudi Arabia to avoid offending the country’s Muslims.
British Midland International also has told female flight attendants they must walk two paces behind male colleagues and cover themselves from head to foot in a headscarf and robe known as an abaya, the Mirror newspaper of London reported.
Teddy bears or other cuddly toys also are not allowed.
Airline officials, who have sparked outrage, the paper says, explain the Islamic kingdom’s strict laws prohibit public practice of Christianity and figures of animals.
...An airline employee who asked not to be named told the Mirror: “It’s outrageous that we must respect their beliefs but they’re not prepared to respect ours.”
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48269
Consistently Inconsistent
The purpose of Senate hearing in the US Supreme Court Justice Nomination process is to ensure that the nominee is technically qualified for the position, not to weed out nominees that one party just does not like.
For instance when Clinton nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg her nomination went through without much discussion even though she was a well known liberal ACLU lawyer. Conservatives agreed that while they may not like her positions she was technically qualified and she was confirmed with very little discussion or opposition from Republicans.
When President Bush nominated John Roberts to the US Supreme Court Senator Schumer stated that Roberts had to answer more specific questions than previous nominees because he had not been a judge and as a result there was no history to look at.
When President Bush nominated Judge Alito to the US Supreme Court Senator Schumer stated for the record that Alito had to answer more specific questions than previous nominees because he had been a judge and had been prolific in his writings and there was so much history to review and question him on.
Another thing Schumer is saying is that it is “triply important” that Alito be forthcoming and answer specific questions about specific potential cases because he was nominated to occupy a “swing” seat, or vote, on the Supreme Court, vacated by O’Connor. Sorry Chucky, there ain’t no such thing as a “swing” anything on the Supreme Court.
D.B.
‘Affluent beggars’ have made as much as $800 a dayCouple supports family through panhandling
January 8, 2006- The first time Elizabeth Johnson stopped a stranger on the street to ask for money, she was really nervous...That was six years ago now in hindsight, she believes she was socially conditioned to think that if you ask people for money something is wrong with you.
Now Johnson and her 34-year-old partner, Jason Pancoast, who have been together for 14 years, support themselves and their three children by panhandling.
Pancoast refers to himself and his family as “affluent beggars.”
“If you’re an affluent beggar you stay in a hotel and eat a continental breakfast,” he says. “It makes it a lot easier to be philosophical about it.”
Carrying her smiling baby in a navy blue front pack and pushing Adrianne in a green jogging stroller, Johnson stops people on the street and asks them for money to find shelter for her children. (so she’s lying and she’s not...)
...According to Pancoast, begging can be lucrative. He claims the family sometimes makes $300 a day asking for money and has made as much as $800. The family also receives $500 a month in food stamps.
But the presence of a well-fed, well-dressed family begging from strangers on the streets does not sit well with some Ashland locals...
“I always felt bad for her because she had a baby in the hot summer sun,” says Debbie, “That kind of thing tugs on anyone’s heartstrings.”
But then Debbie saw Pancoast drop Johnson off at the Ashland Waldorf-inspired experimental classes at Willow Wind, part of the Ashland public school system, in a nice car and kiss her and the baby goodbye. “Then I became a little bitter,” Debbie says. “I was working my tail off at three jobs — waitressing and babysitting — and I see her eating at restaurants that are so expensive I can’t afford to eat there.”
...Johnson says she doesn’t want to get a job because it would keep her away from her children.
Pancoast says he would like to get a job, but finding suitable employment has been difficult. His lack of experience and difficulty with jobs in the past make it even more challenging.
...The couple who adopted Erik [one of two of their children they gave up for adoption] flew Johnson and Pancoast out to the Bay Area and helped them find a place to live and jobs. Pancoast worked at a record store until he was fired, and then at a fish market, until he lost that job as well. Debbie [has] worked in retail... (oh, so the problem isn’t getting a job, it’s keeping it...) http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/0108/local/stories/01local.htm
I remember when I lived in Missouri a lady in my car-pool told me about her brother who owned his own construction company stopping and offering a man holding a "will work for food" work. The bum said he couldn't take it because he was starting his vacation the next day. I also remember in the paper when they did some investigating on the pan-handlers at the exit ramps on the highways and many declined help when told about social services and were offered rides there or to shelters. Some admitted to making $300 a day. Many had very nice cars. It's people like them that give the truely needy a bum rap.
D.B.
The poverty hype
By Walter E. Williams
http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/walterwilliams/2006/01/04/180969.html
A Look at Other Scientific Frauds
10 Jan- A South Korean university panel concluded Seoul scientist Hwang Woosuk fabricated his claims that he cloned human embryos and extracted stem cells from them, and that he developed 11 stem cell lines tailored to specific patients. Here are some notable research frauds over the past three decades:
** Nutrition researcher Eric Poehlman, formerly of the University of Vermont College of Medicine, pleaded guilty last year to fraud in obtaining a $542,000 federal grant. Prosecutors said he made up research between 1992 and 2000 to win millions of dollars in federal grant money for studies in such areas as menopause, aging and hormone supplements.
** Last March, Dr. Gary Kammer, a Wake Forest University rheumatology professor and leading lupus expert, was found to have made up two families and their medical conditions in federal grant applications. He resigned from the university and was suspended from receiving federal grants for three years.
** In 2004, federal officials found that Dr. Ali Sultan, then an award- winning malaria researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, had plagiarized text and figures, and falsified his data _ substituting results from one type of malaria for another _ on a grant application for federal funds to study malaria drugs. Sultan resigned.
** As a researcher at Bell Labs, Jan Hendrik Schon made up or altered data in electronics experiments at least 16 times between 1998 and an investigation concluded. He was fired in 2002.
** The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said in 2002 that its reported discovery of two chemical elements in 1999 was based on bogus research. The results were retracted in 2001.
** Stephen Breuning, a well-known research psychologist, pleaded guilty in 1988 to falsifying research data on drug therapies for mentally retarded children while working for the University of Pittsburgh.
** In 1981, Dr. John Darsee, a Harvard cardiologist and medical researcher, was found to have faked data in an experiment on heart attacks in dogs. He was later found to have made up much of his data in more than 100 papers published over 14 years while he worked at Harvard and Emory University. Darsee was dismissed and cut off from federal research funds for 10 years.
** In 1974, Dr. William Summerlin resigned from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York after admitting he had forged an experiment on the immune system’s reaction to foreign tissue. He used a dark, felt-tipped pen on a white mouse and made it appear that tissue had been grafted successfully from a black mouse. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/10/D8F20IR80.html
posted by David Bennett | 3:40 PM
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