HOW TO NOT MAKE MONEY

ABC News: Upper-Income Taxpayers Look for Ways to Sidestep Obama Tax-Hike Plan

Barack Obama's plans to tax the evil, filthy ugly rich is going to lead to an economic shutdown. At some point, the achievers are going to give up. They are going to get sick and tired of working hard to achieve and succeed and see their earned wealth be taken away by the point of a gun and given to someone to buy tire shine for the wheels on their house.

Right now, Obama's tax plan makes it pretty clear what is defined as "rich." An individual making $200,000 or a family making $250,000.

Even in the mainstream media, we are starting to hear about the achievers who are looking for ways to decrease their salaries in order to fall under Barack Obama's tax marks. What does this mean? People actually want to make less money, thanks to Barack Obama's tax plans. That means that they employ less people or see less clients. In other words, it leads to a less productive society. A society that is more dependent on the government. There is some point at which people will say "Look, I have enough. I'll continue to work hard, but not for reduced rewards. Time to cut back and take it easy while this country enjoys their new president."

Take a look at this article from ABC News: Upper-Income Taxpayers Look for Ways to Sidestep Obama Tax-Hike Plan. This is real, folks. This isn't me typing out a summary of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged." Read the article and tell me how Obama's tax plans are going to be a benefit to our society.

Detroit lawyer gets 5-cent IRS bill, 4-cent refund

DETROIT — James Howarth is a little confused by two letters he has received from the Internal Revenue Service.

The Detroit defense lawyer received one letter in November that said he owed the IRS money — five cents.

He was warned that he should pay "to avoid additional penalty and/or interest," the Detroit Free Press reported Saturday.

Howarth says he then received a second letter telling him the government owes him money — four cents.

He was told he would have to request the refund since it's less than $1.

"When I owe them a nickel, I must pay them. It's not optional," he said. "But when they owe me, I have to ask for it."

Howarth says he's not sure if there is a connection between the two notices, or if the refund represents a recalculation of the original bill.

The perplexed lawyer says he called an IRS 800 telephone number but gave up after spending a long time on hold.

IRS spokesman Luis D. Garcia says the agency doesn't comment on individual accounts.

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Information from: Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com

The word 'obese' is banned from letters to parents of fat children in case it upsets them

By Daniel Martin
Last updated at 7:07 PM on 17th December 2008

Ministers banned the word 'obese' on letters to the parents of fat children - because focus groups did not like it, England's chief medical officer said today.

Professor Liam Donaldson revealed that the term was replaced on letters to parents by 'very overweight' over fears it would upset and stigmatise fat children.

Writing on the BBC News website he said obesity had become a taboo word or an 'O word'.

The Department of Health announced in August that for the first time parents would be routinely informed if their child was clinically overweight.

Children are weighed on entering primary school (at age four or five) and in their final year (aged 10 or 11) as part of the National Child Measurement Programme.

Parents can opt out of having their child weighed if they wish, but the vast majority do not.

Letters are then sent out to make parents aware of potential problems with their child's weight so they go and see their doctor about it if needed.

But Professor Donaldson said that in the planning stage, a 'stumbling block' was the wording of the feedback letter.

'At an earlier stage, some child health professionals had argued against the idea of a school-based weighing and measuring scheme because it would stigmatise overweight or obese children and lead them to being bullied.

'When the letter was field-tested with parents in focus group interviews there was a clear message that the term "obese" was unpopular. They felt they were being personally blamed for their child's health, and that their child would be "labelled for life".

'The majority of these parents felt that using the term "very overweight" in combination with the associated health risks was a better approach. Suddenly, we had stepped on eggshells.'

He added: 'Obesity has become the new cancer. A word that is taboo, that intimidates, strikes fear, that promoted softer euphemisms. In effect it has become an "O" word.

At the time, the National Obesity Forum described the Government's decision not to use the word obese as 'prissy and namby pamby'.

Professor Donaldson said it was not just children who appeared not to like being branded obese.

He recounted a meeting in 2006 which was held to discuss action on obesity. He described it as 'downbeat', with people saying very little.

'After the meeting broke up, one person crept back into the room and whispered to me: "We couldn't talk about it properly because someone obese was in the room",' he recalled.

'Today, the word obesity arouses deep feelings and provokes strong opinions. It influences in ways that can't always be predicted.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1096945/The-O-word-The-word-obese-banned-letters-parents-fat-children-case-upsets-them.html

50% - The lowest grade students can receive

Pittsburgh schools may change grading policy

by The Associated Press

Thursday December 11, 2008, 6:58 AM

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Public Schools officials may change a policy that makes 50 percent the lowest grade students can receive -- even if they do zero work.

The policy is meant to help students recover from a bad grade or the odd missed assignment. But the district's teachers complain that some students refuse to hand in assignments because they're content to get the "50 percent" grade for doing nothing.

Proponents of the policy say students who aren't given a chance to recover from low grades lose incentive to improve them. But critics say the policy coddles lazy students and undercuts the district's "Excellence for All" campaign to improve student performance.

Officials expect to tweak the policy, which they say is used in other districts, but not abandon it entirely.

THE WUSSIFICATION OF AMERICA

A school resource officer by the name of Derek Jones in a Massachusetts better be looking for another job. You see, Derek had the idea that government school children need to be trained to defend themselves if they are ever being held by a gunman. Common sense and government schools don't mix very well .. and I'm afraid Derek may learn the hard way.

Naturally, his idea didn't go over too well. His proposal was to teach children fifth grade and up (that's about 10 years old) to fight back against a gunman than came into the classroom. They would learn techniques on how to use their backpacks or textbooks to fight or defend themselves.

Derek says, "Do we want the kids to sit there and literally have the gunman be able to shoot them one at a time? Or do we want to allow instincts to kick in and basically allow them to protect themselves against the threat?" Boy, isn't that the painful truth? Most parents don't want to answer that question. Instead, they are worried about how the children would handle the training emotionally. It may frighten them!

Protecting yourself from an attack? Is this guy nuts? Doesn't he know that the standard practice in any school - right up to and through college - is to sit there and wait for your turn to be attacked?

Needless to say, I don't think government school children in Massachusetts will be getting this training any time soon.

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Controversy Erupts Over School Proposal to Teach Kids to Fight Back Against Gunmen

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

A proposal to teach children as young as 10 years old to fight back against a classroom gunman is causing quite a stir in a small town in Massachusetts.

The Georgetown Public Schools in Georgetown, Mass., are considering a proposal to teach kids to fend off a gunman with backpacks or textbooks as part of a proposal to revamp their "Code Blue" safety policy.

Those who support the idea say it may seem extreme, but it could save a child's life.

Georgetown Police Chief James E. Mulligan told FOXNews.com the proposed technique was intended to be a "last ditch" thing to be used in cases where a gunman has been able to thwart police and get inside a classroom alone with students.

But others think the last thing you want to teach young kids is how to fight off an intruder with a gun.

"To put that expectation on young, emotional, scared, frightened children is really a slippery slope," says Kenneth Trump, the president of National School Safety and Security Services. "It has a high risk and higher probability of escalating a situation than it would to neutralize the situation."

The controversy began when the district's school resource officer, Derek Jones, proposed the training in a memo after hearing it had been used in schools in Florida.

"[He] was starting the conversation with us to say, well, ‘Do we want the kids to sit there and literally have the gunman be able to shoot them one at a time? Or do we want to allow instincts to kick in and basically allow them to protect themselves against the threat?'" Carol Jacobs, the district superintendent, told FOXNews.com.

"It might include using a book or hiding behind a backpack or something, some kind of shield."

Jacobs said the proposal to teach kids in fifth grade and up how to ward off armed attackers in a worst-case scenario created some concern among administrators.

"We had immediate discomfort with all of this because it’s not the way we’ve thought about it in the past, and also, we worry a little bit more about the liability of all of this," she said.

Jones' memo was intended only for school officials updating the school safety policy in Georgetown, a coastal community north of Boston, but it was leaked to the media before the district's safety committee could even discuss it, leading to concern among parents.

"A lot of kids come from unsafe places at home, and school is their only haven, you know, and for them to come into school and have to think about that stuff I think can be scary," parent Hope Carter told MyFOXBoston.com.

Barbie Linares, who has three children in the district, including a 10-year-old, said she has confidence in how the school administration deals with proposals.

"If it was going to be implemented, I would hope that it would be implemented in, say, fifth grade and above, or middle school and above," she told FOXNews.com. "I do think that it would be better off with the older kids."

Trump said it makes more sense to train school staff to deal with a gunman.

"We’re asking them to make some quite serious judgments that even trained adults are challenged to make," he said. "I think that’s an unrealistic and highly risky expectation and burden to put on kids."

Current policy, Mulligan said, is on par with districts across the country, allowing police to enter a school in lockdown and engage an attacker "to minimize the harm to children and staff in the school."

Officials say the Georgetown community is safe. The only recent activity was an unfounded bomb threat six months ago that lead to a school evacuation.

The safety committee plans to discuss the Code Blue proposals on Thursday.

"The intention here is just to make sure that we are always on the cutting edge of what we need to do to keep our kids safe and obviously to learn from lessons of tragedies in other places," Jacobs said.

Speed Rules apply to cops only.. Crooks be happy!

State police announce sweeping changes
Associated Press
2:06 PM CST, November 22, 2008

BELLEVILLE, Ill. - State Police Director Larry Trent announced Friday troopers must follow a four-tiered response system that limits how fast they can drive.

Under the first level, called a "code one," troopers are limited to following traffic laws. Officers operating under codes two and three can drive faster than the speed limit, but must call a supervisor before exceeding 20 miles over the speed limit.

And only supervisors can issue a "code red," directing troopers to drive as fast as necessary, with no limit, State Police Lt. Scott Compton said. Those cases will later be reviewed by a committee, he said.

The agency said Illinois is only the second state in the nation to restrict trooper speeds.

Troopers also will be required to use a handsfree device with cell phones. And state police policy now specifies that they cannot turn in-car video cameras off while responding to emergency calls.

The changes are a direct result of a car crash on Interstate 64 last November, Trent said. Trooper Matt Mitchell lost control of his cruiser while driving 126 mph, crossing the median and hitting head on a car carrying 18-year-old Jessica Uhl and her 13-year-old sister Kelli.

"I am convinced that emergency response driving, whether it is police, fire, or ambulance, must change," Trent said. "The long-standing culture of response at all costs is no longer acceptable within the Illinois State Police."

Before the public announcement Friday, Trent told the Uhls' mother, Kim Dorsey, of the changes during a meeting with her lawyer, Thomas Q. Keefe.

"If these new policies save lives, then Jessica and Kelli died so that lives could saved," Dorsey said. "Well, that's a great tribute to their lives."

Dorsey has filed a $24 million lawsuit against the state and state police in the Illinois Court of Claims.

A second lawsuit was filed last week against Mitchell by a Fayetteville couple who say they suffered leg injuries in the multiple pileup caused by the trooper's crash with the Uhls' car.

State police have relieved 29-year-old Mitchell of duty and he isn't receiving worker's compensation. He's scheduled to stand trial early next year on two charges of reckless homicide in St. Clair County Circuit Court. He has pleaded not guilty.

NYC Churches Ordered Not To Shelter Homeless

NEW YORK (CBS) ― City officials have ordered 22 New York churches to stop providing beds to homeless people.

With temperatures well below freezing early Saturday, the churches must obey a city rule requiring faith-based shelters to be open at least five days a week -- or not at all.

Arnold Cohen, president of the Partnership for the Homeless, a nonprofit that serves as a link with the city, said he had to tell the churches they no longer qualify.

He said hundreds of people now won't have a place to sleep.

The Department of Homeless Services said the city offers other shelters with the capacity to accept all those who have been sleeping in the churches. The city had 8,000 beds waiting.

Last year, four unsheltered homeless people died in the city during cold weather, so three dozen emergency outreach teams were prepped to respond to reports of homeless people outdoors or in the subways.

"We really don't want people sleeping on the streets, on grates, on church steps. We want people sleeping in beds," said Homeless Commissioner Robert Hess.

The homeless can be coaxed indoors but not forced unless their life is in danger.

Pasco Man Jailed After Trying To Save Pets As Home Burns

By LISA A. DAVIS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 21, 2008

ZEPHRYHILLS - Henry Ben Morgan wanted to save his pets.

Instead, he ended up in handcuffs and at least three dogs and a cat perished in the blaze that destroyed his home.

Just before 11 a.m. today, firefighters were called to 35615 Chester Drive and arrived 12 minutes later, finding the home engulfed in flames.

At some point, Morgan's wife arrived, followed by Morgan a few minutes later, said Pasco Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Mike Ciccarello.

Morgan started running for the house. Sheriff's deputies and firefighters yelled for him to stay back, but he kept going toward a window.

Deputies and firefighters, according to a report, restrained him so he could not jump through the window and into the blaze.

Morgan, 41, was forcibly removed from the scene, the report states, and was arrested on charges of obstructing the extinguishment of a fire, a felony, and resisting arrest without violence, a misdemeanor, respectively.

He was being held at the Land O' Lakes Jail this evening. Bail was set at $5,150.

About 20 firefighters continued fighting the one-alarm fire but couldn't save the animals or the home, Ciccarello said.

"It looks like a total loss," he said.

The family of five, including two teenage girls and a 7-year-old boy, are being helped by the American Red Cross.

The fire began between a garage-turned-bedroom and a utility room in the small ranch home. The cause was a worn extension cord that had been run under a door, Ciccarello said.

No one was injured.

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or ldavis@tampatrib.com.

Boy suspended for using broken pencil sharpener

HILTON HEAD ISLAND -- A 10-year-old boy here has been suspended from school for having something most students carry in their supply boxes: a pencil sharpener.

The problem was his sharpener had broken, but he decided to use it anyway.

A teacher at Hilton Head Island International Baccalaureate Elementary School noticed the boy had what appeared to be a small razor blade during class on Tuesday, according to a Beaufort County sheriff's report.

It was obvious that the blade was the metal insert commonly found in a child's small, plastic pencil sharpener, the deputy noted.

The boy -- a fourth-grader described as a well-behaved and good student -- cried during the meeting with his mom, the deputy and the school's assistant principal.

He had no criminal intent in having the blade at school, the sheriff's report stated, but was suspended for at least two days and could face further disciplinary action.

District spokesman Randy Wall said school administrators are stuck in the precarious position between the district's zero tolerance policy against having weapons at school and common sense.

"We're always going to do something to make sure the child understands the seriousness of having something that could potentially harm another student, but we're going to be reasonable," he said.

-- The (Hilton Head) Island Packet

$13,000 to power 19 light bulbs

Wind turbine plan spins out of control
By Edward Mason and Mike Underwood
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 - Updated 1d 3h ago

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The Menino administration is turning red over efforts to go green as the bungled installation of a wind turbine on City Hall’s roof is running up a bill for taxpayers - all to create enough electricity to power just 19 lightbulbs.

Making matters worse: City officials may have inadvertently violated bidding laws in the scramble to get the little turbine engine spinning.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s Environment and Energy chief James Hunt said the windmill project is “definitely worth doing.”

“The energy may be small, but to showcase the potential of renewable energy in the city of Boston is far more significant,” he said.

The turbine - set to be turned on next week - was donated in January by Arizona-based Southwest Windpower.

But what was intended to be a cost-neutral proposition has turned into anything but, with City Hall running up a $13,000 tab getting the wind turbine installed.

The city had trouble securing the turbine to the roof, which is made of concrete reinforced with steel, Hunt said. The turbine also had to be on a hinge so city engineers could safely repair and maintain it.

Hunt said a $5,000 grant from a Somerville energy company, Excelerate Energy, will be used to to offset some of the expense, leaving taxpayers with about an $8,000 tab.

“Anytime you’re dealing with installation in City Hall, there are always challenges,” he said.

With 6-foot-long blades, the turbine is a tenth the size of the IBEW Local 103 turbine visible from the Expressway.

The Skystream 3.7, 1.9-kilowatt turbine produces enough power to run 19 100-watt lightbulbs, said Michael French, a Southwest Windpower spokesman.

Hunt said it generates the energy used by two average Boston homes - but added that the device’s true value is measuring the effectiveness of a wind turbine in an urban setting.

Southwest Windpower said the turbine costs between $12,000 and $18,000 to install. State bidding laws require project’s costing more than $10,000 to be put out for a competitive bid, to ensure the city pays a fair price.

Jeff Conley of the Boston Finance Commission, a city watchdog, said he’s a stickler for complying with the bidding laws but that he doesn’t have a problem with the way the city handled the project.

“They made a judgment around the cost,” Conley said. “They made a mistake.”

The turbine is a small piece of the city’s promotion of alternative energy. The city is investigating placing wind turbines at up to six public schools.