Also, "Atlas Shrugged" a movie? And Michael Jackson sues everybody while the Beach Boys also in some legal jeopardy, some Media Nuggets and hey, Bono a KNIGHT?
Pic of the Day
Quote of the DayOn Grandparents |
| TIDBITS SPECIAL ONE-TIME TAX CREDIT ON YOUR 2006 TAX RETURN When it comes time to prepare and file your 2006 tax return, make sure you don't overlook the "federal excise tax refund credit." You claim the credit on line 71 of your form 1040. A similar line will be available if you file the short form 1040A. If you have family or friends who no longer file a tax return AND they have their own land phone in their home and have been paying a phone bill for years, make sure they know about this form 1040EZ-T. What is this all about? Well the federal excise tax has been charged to you on your phone bill for years. It is an old tax that was assessed on your toll calls based on how far the call was being made and how much time you talked on that call. When phone companies began to offer flat fee phone service, challenges to the excise tax ended up in federal courts in several districts of the country. The challenges pointed out that flat fee/rate phone service had nothing to do with the distance and the length of the phone call. Therefore, the excise tax should/could not be assessed. The IRS has now conceded this argument. Phone companies have been given notice to stop assessing the federal excise tax as of Aug 30, 2006. You will most likely see the tax on your September cutoff statement, but it should NOT be on your October bill. But the challengers of the old law also demanded restitution. So the IRS has announced that a one time credit will be available when you and I file our 2006 tax return as I explained above. However, the IRS also established limits on how BIG a credit you can get. Here's how it works. -If you file your return as a single person with just you as a dependent, you get to claim a $30 credit on line 71 of your 1040. -If you file with a child or a parent as your dependent, you claim $ 40. -If you file your return as a married couple with no children, you claim $40. -If you file as married with children, you claim $50 if one child, $60 if two children. In all cases, the most you get to claim is $60 - UNLESS you have all your phone bills starting AFTER Feb 28, 2003 through July 31, 2006 (do not use any bills starting Aug 1, 2006.), then you can add up the ACTUAL TAX AS IT APPEARS ON YOUR BILLS AND CLAIM THAT FOR A CREDIT. Now if you have your actual phone bills and come up with an ACTUAL TAX AMOUNT, you cannot use line 71 on your tax return. You have to complete a special form number 8913 and attach it to your tax return. Individuals using the special from 1040EZ-T will have to attach this form 8913 also. One final point - this credit is a refundable credit. That means you get this money, no matter how your tax return works out. If you would end up owing the IRS a balance, the refund will reduce that balance you owe. If you end up getting a refund, the credit will be added and you get a bigger refund by that $30 to $60, depending on how many dependents are on your return. Feel free to pass this on or make copies for family and friends who don't have computers. Checked out on Snopes, so it appears to be true! SNOPES |
Steve Irwin Action Toy
Well it was bound to happen.
Although God Bless America (or Australia in this case), capitalism is alive and should be allowed to flourish.
I've not held this wildlife guru in as high esteem as so many seem to do in that, go with me here, so far as I'm concerned, the man's claim to fame is dangling chickens around the snouts of hungry crocodiles. He was, I'll allow, an exuberant personality and it was obvious he loved the animals he so creatively featured.
A recent Blog post here features MORE of Irwin's family cashing in, and on this post is a politically incorrect Steve Irwin rant.
Irwin once got it into his head that it would be cool to take his baby son down with the snapping crocodiles and hey, I thought that was a stupid thing to do. Public outcries stopped this dumb idea but since then I've lost any respect I could ever had for the fellow.
Not that I wanted the man killed by a Sting Ray or anything but Steve Irwin was, in my estimation, a man doomed by Darwin's theory. That he left two young children behind to grow up without their father further bolsters my assessment of the man as an accident waiting to be some animal's lunch.
Not to fear, ladies and gems, for now we have...TADA STEVE IRWIN ACTION FIGURES!
The talking Steve Irwin figure, produced by Wild Republic Toys, will make its debut at February's International Toy Fair in New York City
Here's the thing: action toys like this are generally fashioned after someone a child can ADMIRE. Many of them are fictional characters I understand but they are generally action heroes on the side of truth, justice and the American way.
No way would I want my child to ADMIRE Steve Irwin. I'm just sorry, ladies and gems, but a guy who carries his helpless baby around like a sack of potatoes in the close vicinity of snapping crocodiles? A guy who was wreckless all along and it was only time before he was dead? A guy who left his children fatherless for his daring-do?
Of course my opinion means pretty much nothing. What will tell the tale is just how many of these things actually sell.
I'm betting not many.
MEDIA NUGGETS
Thanks to Anita at FreeRepublic.
Chris Matthews - gets a dressing down... Nothing screams "clueless" like being shown the fool that you are by a Marine
Journalists used by antiwar officer for propaganda - found themselves used to convict him by Army prosecutors.
Ex-Newsday boss gets prison term - In child porn case.
San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, San Jose Mercury News and Bloomberg News are challenging Terrorist Surveillance Program via backdoor court case.
Want Ratings - Go Conservative! - Mike Rosen's open letter to CBS.
Michael Jackson Says It’s the Accounting Firm Not Paying the Bills
We enjoy following the trials and tribulations of Mr. Michael Jackson, pedophile and creep who was blessed with all America has to offer but chose to give young boys beer in a Coke can and other God knows what acts, rather than enjoy his fame and fortune.
Seems ole Michael hasn’t been paying his bills of late and no wonder.Jackson didn’t even sing at his most recent “concert”. There are still a few nutty Jackson fans out there but given a chance, Michael chose to give his few fans left the symbolic middle finger.
NOW Jackson has filed a complaint alleging that his accounting firm screwed him up!
From Digitalcity.com:
7. Bernstein breached its duties to Plaintiffs by, among other things the following:
(a) Through its partners, including Allan Whitman, retaining individuals on behalf Plaintiffs without authorization;
(b) Through its partners, including Allan Whitman, entering into agreements on behalf of Plaintiffs without authorization;
(c) Through its partners, including Allan Whitman, failing to communicate directly with Jackson or to keep Jackson apprised of his
affairs;
8. Plaintiffs are also informed and believe, and on that basis alleged, that Bernstein withdrew from Plaintiffs' accounts $2.5 million a year for payment of its services. >
I have a small consulting business and I handle the business affairs for a few select businesses. What I can and cannot do is clearly delineated in our agreement. I simply don’t understand number 8. The “Plaintiffs” (in this case Michael Jackson and his company) were “informed and believe” that the accounting firm withdrew $2.5 million for services?
Either Jackson KNOWS that the money was withdrawn or he DOES NOT. It’s not like $2.5 million is a small amount of money is what I’m saying here. Further, I am obligated to provide a reconciled copy of the bank account every month to my clients. With all the technology and computerized accounting aid available, it is still a reconciled checking account that ties all transactions together. My clients also can access the checking account their own selves at any time and they do on occasion. I am allowed to pay myself via the checking account but again, I have to provide a monthly proof of all monetary transactions that must match bank records. Oh, and a timesheet. All accountants have to keep a timesheet for God’s sake. And I’m quite sure Jackson’s firm has provided him with a detailed list of the time they spent working his affairs.
As for “retaining individuals” and “entering into agreements” without authorization , I’m skeptical. Such actions are usually allowed in such agreements. Could it be that Jackson now DISAGREES with those actions by the accounting firm and wants to make a big deal of it?
Or could the real truth be that Jackson simply doesn’t have the money to pay his many creditors and is using this case as a smoke screen to put off the lawsuits?
The Donald and Rosie
Okay, I’m still keeping up with the Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell feud. It’s tough work, ladies and gems, but hey, somebody’s gotta do it.
I do it for the children.
First, the latest on Miss U.S.A., Conner, is that she’s been offered a cover page on Playboy magazine. Trump is said to be considering the offer. Now I don’t know what “cover” means in terms of Playboy but at any rate, just the word “Playboy” indicates nudity in some form. The Donald said he wants to keep his U.S.A. pageant at the cutting edge of current culture so what’s that mean? What a hoot if The Donald agrees to let Conner pose nude. He publicly chastised the woman, before giving her that famous second chance. Now he’s willing to let her pose nude? As for The Donald and Rosie, I heard Trump rant on Van Sustern’s show this past Wednesday evening, 1/3/07. Trump’s latest assertion is that Baba Walters told him that she hated Rosie and regrets ever signing her onto “The View”. Walters, however, made a firm statement on “The View” that she likes Rosie and continues to support her position on the show.
Now either The Donald is lying here or Baba Wawa is lying. My bet is that The Donald is telling the truth and that Walters really does not like her co-host. I guess this because hardly anyone particularly likes Rosie O’Donnell and hey, The Donald is right about this loose cannon: her magazine failed, her Broadway show failed, her talk show failed. O’Donnell is not especially well-received by the American public and that’s an understatement.
Still I’m enjoying the public spectacle of two vapid idiots taking potshots at one another. It’s doesn’t matter if “The View” is enjoying a ratings increase due to the feud. In the long run this entire matter does not bode well for either Rosie O’Donnell or “The View”. Trump, like he always does, will likely come out the victor in this battle.
Speaking of Celebrities and Lawsuits
Seems the Beach Boys had their lawsuit thrown out of court recently. Seems their attorney showed up late for court. Seems that if you are a celebrity you STILL have to show up in court in time, even if in your pajamas.
Sad. It appears that the Boys had a solid case here.
From TMZ.com:
The Beach Boys just learned a hard lesson about the American justice system. TMZ has learned that on December 11, Danny Morin, the lawyer from Brother Records Inc. (The Beach Boys' company), showed up 13 minutes late for a court hearing in Los Angeles Federal Court. Judge Manuel Real, legendary for his explosive tirades, sent some seriously bad vibrations through the courtoom by dismissing The Beach Boys' case.
Bono a KNIGHT?
Bono is a most amusing celebrity. If he’s not renting a dinghy to rescue Hurricane Katrina victims, complete with photographer to capture his daring-do, then he’s campaigning to award African despots and dictators more money that they can indulge their own selves while ignoring the desperate populace.
Recently, on this Blog, we covered:Bono’s Hat AND Limbaugh and Bono.
Now Britain’s going to make this idiot a Knight?
Look for Bono to be out and about in the near future, complete with white horse, knight’s armor, and rescuing somebody from somewhere, ANYWHERE where there’s a camera and the potential for publicity.
From Yahoo.com:
DUBLIN, Ireland - Irish rocker and humanitarian Bono will become a knight of the British empire — but the U2 frontman won't be called "Sir."
Britain confirmed Saturday Bono will receive his honorary knighthood from the British ambassador to Ireland, David Reddaway, in a Dublin ceremony shortly after New Year's Day.
“ATLAS SHRUGGED” ON THE SILVER SCREEN
Although a voracious reader and self-confessed conservative, I have never read Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”. I will, however, see the movie.
But yes! That beloved novel so cherished by Conservatives, “Atlas Shrugged”, will soon be a movie!
"It was published almost 50 years ago, and has sold millions of copies. But only now is Ayn Rand's controversial individualist novel 'Atlas Shrugged' about to become a movie starring Angelina Jolie. Ed Hudgins, editor of the New Individualist, tells me that the screenplay adapting the 1,100-page epic novel is only a couple weeks away from completion. Production is set to begin next year with the release of the film in 2008. Mr. Hudgins says fans of Atlas should be pleased that the adaptation is being authored by Randall Wallace, the scriptwriter for 'Braveheart,' Mel Gibson's epic tale of Scottish freedom fighters."
- John Fund, Political Diary, 12/18/06
Amazon link to “Atlas Shrugged”
Wrapping Up With a Smile
Came across this Christmas laugh and couldn’t resist. This in view of Britney’s latest attempt to keep her name in lights. We speak, ladies and gems, of Britney’s lack of underwear and the flashing of her nether regions for gathered photographers.
More Gossip/Speculation HERE
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