Joshua's Journal

04/02/2009 12:13 #48262

Alternative News

Here's a fluff piece, interesting nonetheless, from China Radio International regarding a young American who studied finance in the UC system, but ultimately left to open a bakery in Beijing. It's interesting seeing the Chinese exposed to American culture that has nothing to do with companies, but with real people. His customers love him. WTF - I'm blonde and I studied Finance and Economics. Maybe I should forego it all and open an American bakery in a foreign land as well?

You'll appreciate this - check it out.

UPDATE: I thought I'd show you all the progress being made on my "roll up the rim to win" collection thus far, and a piece of candy with a name I couldn't believe... I bet Ralph Lauren's daughter keeps this in stock at her store in Manhattan.

heidi - 04/02/09 23:54
When I was growing up, Mary Janes were always the last hated pieces of Halloween candy.

joshua - 04/02/09 20:29
Oh, and to the right there was my tom kha soup for lunch, quite tasty.

joshua - 04/02/09 20:29
Hmm - the ingredient list -

Corn syrup, dry roasted peanuts, sugar, molasses, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, soy lecithin, salt, mono and diglycerides, hydrogenated vegetable oil, glycerine, natural flavor.

Somebody tell me what I just ate. Please? :(

(e:tiny) - think of all the free stuff people are leaving behind!

jenks - 04/02/09 18:29
haha, you've never had those mary janes before? my dad likes 'em. sort of chewy/peanut buttery if I recall.

tinypliny - 04/02/09 15:18
Wow. You are first person who I (sort of) know that rolls up those rims.

03/13/2009 10:10 #48040

"Making Work Pay"

On February 17, the President signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Economic Stimulus Act). This law lowers the amount of federal income tax withholding from your paycheck through he "Making Work Pay" provision. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released updated withholding tax tables and Advanced Earned Income Tax Credits and has recommended that these changes take place no later than April 1, 2009. XXXXXX, our payroll service provider, has already implemented these changes effective with the paycheck you have received today.

The reduced withholding amounts will be in effect for the remainder of 2009 and 2010. You will not be required to complete new Forms W-4 to take advantage of the reduced federal withholding percentage.

You will likely notice, based on your marital status and number of dependents claimed for bi-weekly payroll, anywhere from $20.00 to $40.00 MORE in your net pay this week (and it will continue for 2009 and 2010). If you wish to NOT have this extra amount as "take home" pay and wish to resume having more taxes paid in to get a larger refund at next year's tax filing (2010), then be sure to let me know and I can provide you with the proper form to complete.

There will be no change to New York State tax withholding, as far as we know now.

I think my boss may be incorrect on that last point - sadly state withholdings will be going up, not down.

Anyway, here is your "tax cut," which is actually a "tax credit."

janelle - 03/13/09 17:54
I spoke to our accountant this afternoon and there might be a $800 tax credit next tax year. For myself, the credit will balance out the amount extra I will have to pay in taxes because less was with held.

jenks - 03/13/09 16:02
so... if I owe every year at my current level of withholding, now i'll just owe even more next april? Fuck that. They can keep their 50/month.

Is there going to be another bailout plan next spring, when no one can afford to pay the taxes they suddenly owe?

janelle - 03/13/09 12:41
I wanted to believe that there was something that I wasn't understanding.

Because now I understand that it is a continuation of a spend-now-think-later attitude that underlies some of the ridiculous amounts of debt people have accrued.

joshua - 03/13/09 12:05
Basically yes (e:janelle) - your tax liability has not gone down, but the amount being collected from you up front has gone down. You can choose to opt out, so to speak, if you'd rather pay your previous tax level and keep your return a little larger.

janelle - 03/13/09 10:46
I was going to post about this as well, because we just received a similar e-mail at my workplace. And I had a question on it.

I interpreted this as my workplace would be withholding less taxes now...so it gives me more money in my paycheck now to save or spend...but that means I will have a bigger tax bill later.... Is that correct?

I would probably end up saving the extra money in an interest bearing account in order to ensure that I have the money to pay my taxes and make a little interest off it in the mean time. But I'm assuming that the government wants people to spend the money.

I did already see the increase in my paycheck today. An extra $30/paycheck or $60/month

03/12/2009 11:57 #48028

Work Haiku

After me it's your turn (thanks for the inspiration (e:gardenmama))

jasmine green tea bag
stern winds test icy window
it's only noontime

gardenmama - 03/13/09 16:54
I like it - and you're welcome.

james - 03/12/09 12:46
Fuck this fucking shit.
Seriously, fuck this shit.
Fuck this shit damn it.

03/11/2009 11:00 #48016

Terrell Owens

For those of you who do not follow the NFL, you may not know who Terrell Owens is, but even in our celebuculture I can't help but feel this should be impossible. If you don't know who he is, wiki is your BFF -

- the "Controversy" section is probably the most interesting portion of the page.

He's the classic "me" player - egotistical, mouthy, greedy, self-centered, with little regard for his teammates or the well-being of the team.

As a Bills fan, I expect that even T.O. isn't capable of destroying a franchise in one year. From a purely football perspective I think he's going to be a huge addition to our offense, but at what expense? T.O. has to know that his antics won't be tolerated here... if he doesn't he'll soon find out. The thing about T.O. is that he came from small town Alabama and an undistinguished athletics program (Tennessee - Chattanooga). He must have been really eager to shed his humility.

metalpeter - 03/11/09 19:23
I like TO but there are somethings I don't like about him. I'm more of a Fan of the Jerry Rice kind of player then TO, but since he was a 49er I can't hate on him. Lets face it a lot of this is a racial issue. Yes it is. It is ok for Bret Farve, John Elway, or any other QB to want to be the star of the game and go down and Pass, Pass, Pass and win the game on the winning drive. If any of the greats didn't want that then they would be looked down on. Do they come out and brag about it no, but they say the same thing but in a cool way, but we all know they are glad to throw the winning pass. But see that is all Owens wants. He wants the ball, he wants to score, he wants to win, he wants to be the star just like the QBs do. The problems come in when he maybe gets in a guys face and lets them know that the ball should have gone to him instead of the other guy. His passion over drives him and pushes him to a point where it can hurt the team he is on. That being said if the people calling the plays or throwing the ball aren't doing what they should be, Then TO should be in their face letting them know about it. But that being said when he drops a Ball that touches his hands then they can give him shit also. I thought up until late in the season TO was being a great team player from what I saw last year. Should he be move of a team yeah he should. But one of the problems is that passion that can make him cause problems is the same passion that makes him so good. You can't have it both ways and say that he can only have one of the passions it doesn't work that way (yes at work I'm like TO I admit it, but not all the time, no one all ways is). I think when you score you should have fun and do a great dance and show off. That being said it needs to be for yourself and not as a way to taunt the other team. TO has some great celebrations and I hope we see lots of them. The one thing I don't like about them though, is often they look planed. The one question I have is if you plan them then why not use that time and energy to devote to the game and to be better team mates with the team. I think he can be a great help to the Bills and hope he helps the team out.

On a side note for all of those people who Hate TO. Think about this before you hate on him. If you played football and people around you told you, you where the best how would it effect you. How would the cameras effect you. If you liked attention how would the media effect you? On another side note QBs aren't the only one who want to win games. Goalies want to make that save that leads to the team winning. Hockey players want to get the game winning goal or at least help with it. At the very least the AFC could be the most Interesting Division again this year. If Brady is 100% we might just be playing for the wild card spot again, HA.

james - 03/11/09 13:53
I just heard he will have his own reality TV show. Yup, cameras will be rolling as he strolls through Buffalo.

Is this the sort of media coverage Buffalo could use?

mrmike - 03/11/09 11:10
Oh, I'm sure this is a one year thing. I'd wager he's going to use this as an audition/see, look at me kind of year to rub it in the face of Jerry Jones, et . al. and snag one more fat contract out of it from somebody else. I still can't help but wonder if Ralph Wilson thought he was signing for a package from Toronto. I think the year gives the Bills a chance to see if Hardy or Steve Jackson are going to be the answer opposite Evans or Hardy is every bit the bust he looked like this season.

03/09/2009 20:15 #48001

Potpourri

1. El Salvador's Barack Obama - Communist and Former CNN Employee

A most interesting development. It is good to see the Red March continues across Latin America, comrades! Possibly the only capitalist nation left south of our border (or, as some say, anywhere in the Western Hemisphere) is now Brazil - they just recently began expanding their offshore drilling, and this is the country with the highest application of biofuel in the world? In any case, this is no bullpoop - yes, Maruicio Funes, former CNN International correspondent and candidate for President of El Salvador is the current leader of the same Communist regime that the Reagan Administration fought back in the '80s, and he considers himself to be "El Salvador's Barack Obama." As the piece points out, he's even co-opted "si se puede." If you're curious, you can check out "Chairman" Funes on Facebook.

2. Barack Obama - Worst Gift Giving President In History?

This ain't political - let's lay out the facts and you can judge for yourself. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is a peculiar man to be sure, but he displayed deep consideration and thought in his array of gifts to the 44th President of the United States upon their first diplomatic meeting.

Please consider the following. The first gift - an ornamental desk-pen holder crafted from the timbers of a 19th century British anti-slaving ship, the HMS Gannet, which was subsequently renamed the HMS President. (That is such an amazing and meaningful gift not just to Barack Obama but to our nation, that I can barely stand it). The second gift - the framed commission for the HMS Resolute, a ship that our own U.S. Navy towed from the Arctic to London for the British. The same boat whose timbers were fashioned into the desk of President Rutherford B. Hayes, a gift from Queen Victoria, which is the desk that currently sits in the Oval Office. The third gift - a first edition of Sir Martin Gilbert's 7-volume biography of Sir Winston Churchill.

President Obama's gift in return? A 25-DVD collection of America's greatest films.

C'mon. Prime Minister Brown could have picked that up from Wal-Mart on the way to Andrews AFB. Barack Obama, what the hell is wrong with you? The British press is aflame with insult, and how could you blame them? This has nothing to do with politics - I have to say, I'm ashamed at that one. God bless the British and their sense of history... I can't think of another nation whose people could conceive of such thoughtful things to present to our President, much of which has to do with our long history together. We're close to the British and as far as diplomacy goes, in their eyes this was the diplomatic version of a glove-slap. So I'll diss the President in British fashion - in my view, Obama "bottled it!"