I've been doing my taxes today. And undoubtedly tomorrow.
I believe that taxes are the price of civilization, but did they have to make TurboTax even less fun to use than it was last year?
I suppose I could offload the hassle to an accountant, but given that I'm fairly careful about claiming what I can claim — but don't believe in pushing the envelope — I can't believe one would save me enough money to justify the expense unless they went too far.
Scholars and Rogues, How to win the Iraq war debate against your dumb friends.
Recently I was arguing with one of my dumber friends about the Iraq war. He loves Bush and thinks bigger bombs is the answer in Iraq. I wasn’t gaining any ground in the argument until I used a simple analogy. I said, “Your solution is like shattering an expensive vase and then saying, ‘We need to keep smashing it until it’s fixed.’”
I stumped him. He was silent. So here’s a brief list of other analogies you can use on your dumb friends. And the truth is, I’ve seen similar ones work on some of the smartest political pundits.
Actually, I'm not sure if I know anyone who supports the war any more, although I know people with varying views about how one extricates from it. If they do support it, they're awful quiet about it. Statistically, you'd expect there would be a number in the student body, but then I don't spend that much time talking politics with students. Maybe I should?
This may be the World's Most Amazing Trick Shot! at pool, although myself I had no idea that you could use giant dominoes and ramps, not to mention multiple tables. (Warning to Francophones: the effect is somewhat spoiled by the inane and sexist commentary).
(spotted via boing-boing)
Glenn Greenwald, Have Republicans given up on FISA and telecom amnesty?
This is the first time in a long time that right-wing fear-mongering on Terrorism hasn't succeeded. Given that virtually everyone (including me) assumed that the Congress would ultimately enact the new FISA bill demanded by Bush, it demonstrates that smart strategies combined with intense citizen activism can succeed, even when the Establishment — its lobbyists, Congressional representatives and pundits — lines up in bipartisan fashion behind their latest measure. And it removes the Democrats' principal excuse that they cannot resist Bush's Terrorism demands without suffering politically.
We won?
Incredible!
According to a recent survey Miami is 29th among the Worlds Richest Cities, by estimated personal net earnings in 2008. And it's fourth among the large US cities on the list.
These calculations are based on wage figures, social security contributions and working hours in 2006 for fourteen widespread professions. Uniform criteria were used with regard to work experience, age, marital status etc. The wage index was weighted by the share of each occupation in overall employment and overall income and also by gender. The figures relate to pay net of taxes and social security contributions. In calculating the 2008 update of the wage index, USB not only took account of exchange rates and inflation, but also factored in that part of the economic growth was due to productivity improvements and was therefore passed on to employees in the form of higher pay.
Of course, Miami is also a leader in poverty. (#1 in a list of poorest American cities with population over 250,000 when ranked by median household income, 2006).
Assuming the validity of the methods — a big assumption — I'm guessing this means we have a low median wage, but a higher average wage due to the presence of a substantial group of some really really rich folks, and of course lots of rich people living off unearned income and/or comfortably retired.
We must have an amazing Gini coefficient.
Recent Bluessky Posts
Jotwell Blenderlaw