Ok this tax rebate thing. WTF?

Jan 312008
 

What the hell is it?  I can’t figure it out.

Remember several years back when everybody got a check to “stimulate the economy”?  I do, and I also remember do my taxes the next year and having to subtract that money from my refund.  So I wasn’t getting more money from the government, I was getting money that I was going to get anyway when I filed my taxes.  I got a cash advance.  I guess that’s nice, but I don’t think that is what it was sold as, and I was disappointed not to get a refund at the normal time.

So now they are doing it again.  But I can’t figure out if it’s the same thing.  They are going to give me some money.  Hooray.  When I do my 2008 taxes, am I going to have to subtract this, like I did last time?  Or, is the government sending me some of the money I’ve already paid in taxes back?  That’s what a “rebate” is.   That’s what they are calling it.  But I think they called the last one a rebate too.  Obviously, a rebate of “money that has already left my pocket that I wasn’t supposed to get back” is preferable just “getting money I was already entitled to sooner.”  (From the point of view of my finances, of course, not the US government’s.)

If anyone can figure it out, please let me know.  I can’t figure it out from reading the text of the bill, and my Google-fu is failing me.

The question is: “Is the new tax rebate free money from the government or is it an early refund check?”

What is this thing?

Jan 302008
 

I just spent about a half an hour explaining this mysterious object to one of my students, a college junior or senior:

Cassette

They were a completely foreign object to him.  He was amazed that they had two sides.  He was appalled at the notion of fast-forwarding to get to the next song.  Rightfully so.  The re-usability seemed to be its only redeeming quality. All in all, they just didn’t seem like a decent way to record or distribute music.

He also refused to believe that a record could sound better than a CD or digital file.   I had to explain the whole analog-digital difference.   He had never held a record in his hands, he had only seen them in movies, and had never realized that they could hold information on both sides.  Apparently, you never flip a record over in the movies.

It was one of the most fun conversations I’ve had in a long time.

Callin all recipes

Jan 272008
 

Hi,

So my soon-to-be-mother-in-law had a good idea that I thought I would continue. She asked all the women at my wedding shower to write down their best recipes to give to me. Being in Ohio, there was alot of hamburger surprise and cheez-whiz casserole recipes (not that there is anything wrong with that). Now she is asking me for cajun recipes to get into the New Orleans spirit for the wedding. Since I was just a transplant, I thought I would ask the experts. If you have a good cajun, creole recipe that you would like to share, could you either post them or email them to ambershields@gmail.com? I can compile them all and email them back out to you, if you like. Both food and beverage recipes welcomed! Thanks!

Amber

hans.jpg

2008 JazzFest 2008x Better than 2007

Jan 242008
 

 Enough politics, let’s move on to something really important: The 2008 JazzFest lineup is so much better than last year.

Some notable non-New Orleans acts:

  • Stevie Wonder
  • Billy Joel
  • Stevie Wonder
  • Santana
  • Stevie Wonder
  • Al Green
  • Stevie Wonder
  • Robert Plant & Allision Kraus
  • Stevie Wonder
  • Stevie Wonder
  • Randy Newman
  • Stevie Wonder
  • John Prine
  • Richard Thompson
  • Bobby McFerrin!
  • Stevie Wonder
  • Bela Fleck
  • Stevie Wonder

Dave, I’m sorry that there’s no Dave Matthews Band for you.  Instead, you get: The Raconteurs

Widespread Panic is also on the lineup, I’ll be far far away on that day.

Leslie, Papa Grows Funk will be there as well.

And Stevie Wonder.

Democratic Candidates Review

Jan 232008
 

Ok, I felt like I wasn’t giving our potential presidential candidates a fair shake, and was using my limited NPR listening (15 minutes in the shower in the morning) to judge their stand on Gulf Coast rebuilding. So I did some research on the big three Democrats’ positions, using their websites:

Continue reading »

Who is a dork?

Jan 232008
 

I am, because this is awesome:

That’s just plain impressive.

I guess it will always be this way

Jan 152008
 

I read this bullshit today and now I can’t function.  Every so often I get crushed by someone else’s opinion of my hometown.  Why should I care?  I should let it go, realize that there are a lot of ignorant assholes in the world, and ignore them, right?

But I can’t help thinking that the more you repeat a lie, the truer it becomes.  I feel so much anger inside myself when I feel compelled to defend New Orleans, and I hate that feeling.  I’m tired of it.  I’m pretty powerless to stem the tide though.

I get the impression that the majority of people in the United States hate New Orleans.  That’s hard to take when where you’re from is wrapped up so tightly in who you are.

I think this will be the first election in which I don’t vote.

2007 Year-End Stats

Jan 112008
 

Here’s a list of the most popular posts in 2007.

10 Most Commented Post

Dave may have the most commented-upon post, but in the top ten, Brent’s posts got people talking the most. Good job.

Gross

Jan 072008
 

My mom broke her thumb, and sent in cool pictures!

P1010004

The nastiest ones are after the jump:

Continue reading »

Brent’s brother posts 2007 books read list; accidentally reveals the reason he will likely die alone

Jan 032008
 

Here is every book I read last year, pretty much in the order in which they were read. Why would I keep track of such a thing? I’m not quite sure.

  1. Amalgamation Polka- Stephen Wright
  2. Every Visible Thing- Lisa Carey
  3. Case Histories- Kate Atkinson
  4. The Magician and the Cardsharp- Karl Johnson
  5. What is the What?- Dave Eggers
  6. From Here to Eternity- James Jones
  7. The Ruins- Scott Smith
  8. World War Z- Max Brooks
  9. The Nimrod Flipout- Etgar Keret
  10. King Dork- Frank Portman Continue reading »