We Swear

When I selected this theme, I didn’t realize that it has no spot for the author of the post.

I’ll update it eventually.  In the mean-time, I’ve added ‘(Author: [author])’ to the title.

After all, it is We Swear.  Even if sometimes it is just the other voices in my head….

Soooo, still paying off those expensive christmas presents you gave to your ungrateful hanger-on friends and relatives?  Then its time to focus on finding ways to get your hard-earned money back from the government.  That’s what I did this past weekend.  I was knee-deep in paper following my Tax Preparation Checklist.       

In an effort to share the knowledge, I’ve compiled for you a few links that have helped me plan and prepare for this year’s tax cycle.  You’ll even be able to use some of the tips published NOW to start saving on taxes for this year, and if you act quickly, you just might be still be able to save money on last year’s taxes. 

PERSONAL TAX TIPS 

Kiplinger has Ten Tax Tips for After January 1, 2008

At Smart Money you can find – 4 Recent Tax Changes You Need To Know About

H&R Block publishes a great Tax Calendar which I use every year to keep me on track so I can file my taxes early.  I get my refund in March, instead of mid-summer like many last minute filers. They also have some great tax saving strategies you should read. 

If you’re really agressive (like I am) about keeping as much of your money as possible, then consider signing up for J. K. Lasser’s Daily Tax Tips.  You won’t believe the amount of tax knowledge and helpful tips you’ll get, in small bite-size nuggets, that will help you get a handle on deductible expenses, tax credits, etc. 

From TheStreet.com we have: 15 Days of Cutting your Tax Bill.  This was a meaty daily installment over 15 days, which I found very insightful.  After reviewing it   

Finally, check with your state’s Society of CPA’s for tips specific to your state.  My state’s CPA Society publish their Top Ten Tax Savings Tips annually in October.  

SMALL BUSINESS TAX TIPS 

So what got me started on this Tax bender?  This morning I received via my RSS Tax feed 3 timely tax articles, 2 of which I posted above, the third having to do with The 6 Top Small Business Tax Tips for 2008.  So if you have a small or home-based business (like I’m exploring in starting) here’s a few links that will help you with your small business taxes – present or future. 

Entrepreneur.com gives us the Top Tax Write-Offs That Could give you IRS trouble.

AllBusiness.com has 2 great articles: Top 10 Tips for a Growing Business and Tax Tips for Avoiding an Audit.

TheStreet.com posted some great Tips for Small Biz Procrastinators. 

BusinessWeek.com has their own Top 5 Tax-Trimming Tricks for small businesses. 

About.com has a Small Business Tax Section that has some really great tax articles on a variety of topics that will help any small business owner. 

Finally, there is absolutely no substitute for a good, experienced Certified Public Accountant, and mine is truly the best.  I have often consulted him before big changes have occured in my life (like before I got married, as I planned on getting pregnant and before and after filing for separation and divorce).  As a result, that man has saved me thousands!

Now if you’re like me, and you’re looking to change your informal consulting or home based business into an honest to goodness real small business, then I’ve got 2 online business resources that are invaluable for you to start exploring:  The Small Business Administration and About.com’s Small Business Information.  And of course, a good CPA will be able to walk you and help you plan the rest of the way.

Okay, those links should keep you busy for a few minutes.  We now resume our regularly scheduled programming on life, voyeurism and political kvetching.

Fred… say it ain’t so!

When I’m Rich and Powerful (that sounds like a category all by itself), I want to address issues like these:

It’s no surprise that the number of boys who said they didn’t like school rose 71 percent between 1980 and 2001.

…

Schools claim to celebrate diversity yet insist on providing one-size-fits-all education. Whether in co-ed or single-sex classes, boys need boy-friendly instruction: more non-feminized male teachers, more competition, praise for boldness, more active learning (for example, drama and simulation) and less seatwork, less relationship-centric fiction and more how-to books, teachers’ simply accepting that boys will, on average, wiggle more than girls–and that does not require ongoing criticism, which, not surprisingly, leads to more oppositional behavior, to the school psychologist, to the little yellow bus of special education, and even more often to Ritalin. The number of boys drugged with stimulants to control “hyperactivity” has, in the past 20 years, risen 3000%!
I bolded one part, but I want to rephrase another: … boys do not require ongoing criticism, which leads to more oppositional behavior….

Give that some thought.  Criticizing boys on a regular basis will make them lash out.  Hell, doing that to *men* will make them lash out!  Ever heard of a man who couldn’t stand his wife’s nagging anymore?

This sort of stuff just drives me nuts.

The article hits on the same points I notice.

—

There are a few friends who think this post is just for them.  That’s kinda my point – I talk to great people on a weekly basis who have lots of problems with their kids – especially boys, but also strong-willed girls – who have real problems with the public education system.  I want to fix that….

A Nevada Judge ruled thursday that temporary polling sites could be set up on the Vegas Strip to enable all those who work on or near the Strip to Vote. So who benefits by this decision?  Hmmm, lets see, the only workers I know who work on or near the strip are hookers, strippers and other casino workers.  Well isn’t that special! 

And adding mayhem to confusion, it seems the GOP sent their registered voters incorrect information on polling sites. Lets just hope they managed to reach their constituency with the correct polling site information before the polls close.

I wonder if  they’ve managed to fool-proof the system in the past 2 days to ensure that people won’t vote twice or not at all. Something like that would be sure to upset Billary.

This gives “working the strip” a whole new meaning.   

 It’s nice to see who really is behind the impassioned speeches of Obama… the spirit of Che Guevara. Here we catch a vivid glimpse of Che focusing on transmitting his message while Obama invites Fidel’s old friend to possess him.  I now see where Obama got the theme for his platform:

Political Memo

To:  Hillary Clinton

From: Cara

Re: Your message & strategy vs. your actions and its relevance

Hillary, you cannot profess to be a candidate for change and not have any new blood amongst the members of your senior campaign staff.  Though your website is extremely polished and your message clear, it is dated and geared to the boomers.  It is obvious to all the 20-somethings (all those who put Obama over the top in Iowa) that your kind of change only applies to those in your age group and above. 

Unfortunately, its those old time voters that can’t get past the gender stereotype and that searing image of the semen-stained blue dress that belonged to Monica Lewinsky. 

It doesn’t help that you continue to insist your the best candidate to create change and then you surround yourself during your consession speech in Iowa, of the likes of Madelyn Albright and 11 others, all former members of Bill Clinton’s old guard, and expect people to believe you, ’cause they won’t. For Pete’s sake, get a clue!  Or better yet… buy one, it will be money wisely invested. 

Finally, that emotional moment you had today in New Hampshire just goes to show that you’re clueless in knowing what people are looking in a leader.   Here’s a free clue for you so you can realize you are so off target in this race it ain’t even funny: People are looking to vote for honesty, integrity and sincerity and are willing to go with inexperience (such as aw-shucks Huckabee and Obama) just so they won’t have their President screwing them over whiole the First man does the same to the interns. 

Oh and for the record, the reason people buy Bill’s books is the same reason they slow down to watch the remains of a car wreck, you just can’t believe all the damage and that people survived. 

You may be “likeable enough” to be the Senior Senator from NY, but unfortunately, your family is not trustworthy enough to create the change people are looking for… Chelsea hanging with Madonna, Bill hanging with Palestinian leaders that don’t keep there words. You still associate with people like Dick Morris for pete’s sake.  How on earth is that a candidate of change????  HOW STUPID DO YOU THINK WE ARE????

What we are all looking for in our next President is a level of truth and integrity that we haven’t seen or experienced since the Eisenhower period!  Its time you took Bill’s hand-me-down marbles [staff and advisers included] and went home.  They’re tainted… every last one of them. Oh, and I don’t want a 2for1 Presidency. There’s too many ugly memories of the Paula Joneses for people to see you as anything other than the paranoid/full-of-denial/protective wife of a sex fiend.  I for one don’t want that kind of man, having that kind of power, amongst the many young impressionable young women he’ll be surrounded by at the White House Residence and at the tea parties he’ll have to host.  I definitely don’t want my teenage daughters within 50 feet of him and truthfully, I don’t want you or your family within a thousand feet of the Whitehouse.  So for once listen to the American voters and quit while you’re behind.  Don’t make us have to spell it out for you!

I’m not a big fan of Bill, but this is some funny stuff.

Political Memo

To:  Anyone who gives a hoot

From: Cara

Re:  Romney wins Wyoming Caucus; Thompson is in 2nd

No surprise there really, you get what you pay for!  But especially if you have a right-centrist message.  I predict Thompson that we will find Thompson holding his 2nd place finish as the caucuses close later tonight.

PS: Personal Note to Political Pundits:

Iowans are stubborn independent creatures who don’t really represent the general population at large.  You’ll see what I mean after the New Hampshire primary. 

 

 

Please allow me to introduce myself,
I’m a woman of wealth and taste. 
I’ve been around for a long, long year,
now I’m here to swear & taste. 

Some laid traps for the troubadours,
who were killed before they told the truth.
Other shouted “Who killed the Kennedys?”
to distract all from the truth.

But I’m pleased to meet ya’
Hope you guess my name.
Bet what’s troubling you
Is the nature of my game

I’m a keen observationist
Who posts politics of late. 
Still, I’m pleased to meet ya’
Hope you guessed my name!  

- Cara