Archive for January, 2009
The Gaffe Machine processes another tax return
Thursday, January 15th, 2009John Hinderaker, over at Powerline Blog, has a well-written (and most non-partisan) look at Tim Geithner’s tax problems. Some sample quotes:
Some have gone overboard by calling Geithner a “tax cheat.” It is inconceivable that the error was intentional. Others have used the occasion to call for tax simplification. I am all in favor of tax simplification, but the issue at hand isn’t all that complicated: payment of self-employment taxes is elementary, and the fact that an IMF employee is “self-employed” for this purpose, while obscure to the general public, ought to be known to IMF’s employees.I don’t draw any conclusion from this episode other than that Geithner is a busy guy who, like many others, hasn’t paid enough attention to his personal tax and financial matters.
UPDATE: Additional facts have come to light that make this situation much more serious. Byron York reports that IMF employees received additional compensation that was earmarked for their portion of FICA taxes. Their incomes were, as the IMF put it, “grossed up.” Thus, Geithner accepted “reimbursement” from the IMF for taxes that he didn’t pay. Not only that, he certified that he would pay the taxes.
I’m still sure it’s carelessness, not fraud, but if Byron’s description is correct (and I’m confident it is), it represents a level of carelessness that is not going to be tolerated in a Treasury Secretary at this moment in history. I expect Obama to withdraw Geithner’s nomination.
I tend to agree with Mr. Hinderaker that this is not a big deal, and certainly a distraction when we should be talking about Geithner’s role as head of the New York Fed during a major Wall Street Financial Crisis(TM).
Most in the media seem to be giving Geithner the pass he deserves. That said, I do feel the need to point out that Geithner’s mistakes total more than $43,000 in unpaid taxes. Back in October, though, Joe the Plumber‘s credibility was lambasted when he dared ask Barack Obama a question about his tax plan while owing the state of Ohio less than $1,200.
Maybe the media ought to give plumbers the same consideration it’s willing to give Fed-Chiefs-Turned-Treasury-Secretary-Elects…
Categories: News and/or Media, Political Rantings | 1 Comment »
Yet another step toward iPod gold…
Thursday, January 15th, 2009Back in July, I blogged about the Last.FM AppStore app for the iPhone, and how it moved digital music toward it’s holy grail – the impulse buy of a song when one hears it ambiently – such as on the radio or from some other streaming service.
I call this the holy grail because a person’s reaction to a good song on the radio is powerful, instant and short-lived. If a music vendor can provide the consumer with a “Buy it now” button while his/her toe is still tapping, the impulse purchase rate would likely be very high. And if it’s on a mobile device, which is often used in a group setting, there’s a “network effect” possibility (think a group of teens on a bus or at a party, and one says, “hey – check out this song!” and before you know it, a dozen kids have all clicked “Buy it now.”
If that button isn’t there at that exact moment, the person likely forgets about the song minutes after hearing it, and even if they have the opportunity to buy it soon afterwards, they probably don’t think to do so.
Today comes news of another AppStore app from Slacker Radio, which can access over 100 Internet radio stations, as well as custom stations derived from user preferences (genre, decade, popularity, etc.). While a given song is playing, the interface has a nice big “Buy on iTunes” button at the bottom of the screen (click the image to enlarge it). This, combined with the iPhone’s ITMS purchasing capability is pretty close to the situation described above. My only pie-in-the-sky request, at this point, is to make the “Buy” button 1-click, rather than opening the iTunes app. But then again, I’m picky that way.
Categories: The Future is Now | 2 Comments »
The new “Got Milk?” Campaign?
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009This from the excellent photo-blog, Incredimazing:
This is not a humorous topic, of course, but I must admit to smiling when I saw this picture. First of all, anything that makes hateful people look stupid is a step in the right direction, as far as I’m concerned. Second, I just love the fact that he thought he could clarify his error by writing the word “Zionist” in parentheses above the word “Juice.” So now, instead of just misspelling “Jews,” he’s create the concept of Zionist Juice, which I presume is made by squeezing Zionists really hard? And not only that, he’s against Zionist Juice, which I’m guessing is the opposite of the message he’s trying to convey. Ah, sweet linguistic justice…
Anyway, sorry if this offends anyone, but I thought it was hilarious.
Categories: The World Wide Weird | 2 Comments »
The Five Living Presidents
Saturday, January 10th, 2009Barack Obama had lunch yesterday at the White House with the four other living Presidents and ex-Presidents:
For the record, despite appearances, I’m told that Jimmy Carter was not played by a cardboard-cutout of Jimmy Carter. Then again, Photoshop is a powerful tool and we shouldn’t take anything for granted these days.
Anyway, the picture made me think of this picture from Richard Nixon’s funeral in 1994:
Since ’94, we’ve had two ex-Presidents die, and we’ve elected two more. All part of our Presidential replacement program, I guess…
Categories: News and/or Media, Political Rantings, Random Acts of Blogging | No Comments »
Random Acts of Blogging – 1/9/09
Saturday, January 10th, 2009Happy New Year to all! We start off 2009 here at I Should Be Sleeping with a random smattering of things I’ve seen since New Year’s that I thought you’d find fascinating:
First, there’s Burger King. Last month, we discussed their new meat-scented cologne. Now, they’ve gone hi-tech. The Whopper Sacrifice is a Facebook app which will give you a coupon for a free Whopper if you de-friend ten people on Facebook. And not just anonymously dump them. Oh, no. Burger King’s app will send them a “Dear John” e-mail, telling them that you dumped them for a free burger. I guess this is for those folks who didn’t take the hint when you started wearing meat-scented cologne…
Moving quickly onward, ABC News informs us that Congress declared Barack Obama the next President of the United States today. That Congress is sure on top of things, huh? Just kidding, of course. This is a centuries old tradition, whereby a joint session of Congress officially counts and certifies the votes from the electoral college. Those of a certain political bent will enjoy the linked article, as it describes in detail the way Dick Cheney had to sit next to Nancy Pelosi and, in what could easily be his last act as President of the Senate, declare Barack Obama the next President and Joe Biden his replacement as Vice President. There’s also the fun moment of concern where, as luck would have it, the first four states in alphabetical order (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona and Arkansas) all voted for McCain/Palin, causing the a cheer of relief to go up when the next state, California, gave it’s 55 electoral votes to Obama/Biden. Finally, in the “some people never learn” category, the article mentions that the latest of eight (yes, eight) appeals to the Supreme Court to prevent the certification of the vote was quickly dismissed. This one claimed that Obama was ineligible to be President, because his Hawaiian birth certificate is fake and he’s not a naturally born citizen. Sigh…
Also on a political note, Sarah Palin has done an interview for a conservative-leaning documentary on the 2008 election. In it, she gets on Katie Couric, Tina Fey, and the MSM in general for how they treated her. I’ll note three things here: 1) she comes across better in this interview than in anything she ever did on the campaign trail, 2) the editing seems to intentionally cut off her now famous speaking affectations (winks, giggles, you-betcha’s, etc.), and 3) she’s still talking about the media as if it were something that she had no control over and took her by complete surprise. That’s something she’s going to have to change if she wants any future in national politics.
On to financial matters, we have these quotes from our last four presidents, each as they began their presidencies. Tell me if you notice a pattern:
“[The United States is] confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions” – Ronald Reagan, 1981 inaugural address
“We have a deficit to bring down. We have more will than wallet.” – George H.W. Bush, 1989 inaugural address
“[The United States is] weakened by business failures, stagnant wages, increasing inequality and deep divisions among our people.” – Bill Clinton, 1993 inaugural address
“For every day we wait or point fingers or drag our feet, more Americans will lose their jobs. More families will lose their savings. More dreams will be deferred and denied. And our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse” – Barack Obama, 1/8/09 at George Mason University
Not that I’m downplaying the current economic crisis, but it does seem as though presidents try to play down the economy when they enter office, so they can claim a greater victory when they leave, no?
And finally, we have more pictures and video of our recent house construction. Our builder, David Ginfrida, has a Video page on his site. About two thirds of the way down (at the time of this writing) are two videos entitled “Full House Makeover in Scotch Plains, NJ (Front)” and “Full House Makeover in Scotch Plains, NJ (Back)” (the page doesn’t allow me to link to the specific videos – search on your own when you get there). Also, there are several videos taken inside the house as well (one per floor). That page is located here. Obviously, these are very similar to the pictures and videos I’ve posted, but Ginfrida’s guys have a better camera and the ability to ask the workers to clean-up and step out of the way before snapping the pictures, so theirs are a little cleaner.
Anyway, that wraps up my first post of 2009. Here’s to another great year…
Categories: Family Matters, Money Talk, Political Rantings, Random Acts of Blogging, The World Wide Weird | No Comments »