CommenTerry

Random Rants and Raves #141

A letter or email that begins with “it has come to my attention” is usually bad news.        

---

When you hire someone to do a project for you, there is one nearly guaranteed way to slow their progress – pay them in advance.

---

It's always nice to be in a position to say "I don't care" -- and really mean it.

---

Honesty doesn't require people to say everything they think.

---

The perfect time to die is when one is old and has just spent his or her last penny of wealth.

---

A person's lack of flexibility is usually an indicator of immaturity, senility, low intelligence, or all three.

---

In case you're wondering why stuff always seems to happen somewhere else, it's because there are thousands of somewhere elses compared to only one here.

---

Controversy: Anything that runs counter to the conventional foolishness.

An Overview of the Alternative Minimum Tax

The alternative minimum tax (AMT) is one of the least understood and most controversial parts of the federal income tax system of the United States. It is an extra tax some people have to pay on top of the regular income tax and it is used to recapture their tax liability and some tax benefits.

Any taxpayer whose income exceeds a specified level, based on his or her filing status, is required to compute tax owed under both the regular income tax and AMT systems, and is liable for whichever amount is higher. It is therefore an alternative – albeit mandatory alternative – method for calculating one's taxes.

Initially, AMT was introduced to prevent people with very high incomes from using special tax benefits to pay little or no tax and to make sure that these taxpayers paid at least a minimum amount of tax. However, because AMT is not automatically updated for inflation, more middle-class taxpayers are becoming subject to it. Due to this fact, a provision was included in the latest stimulus package passed by Congress to at least temporarily raise the income threshold for AMT liability.

The Difference between Alternative Minimum Tax and Regular Tax

The AMT has a completely different set of calculations than the regular tax. When calculating regular tax, you add up your total income, subtract various deductions and personal exemptions, and then calculate the tax. With the regular tax, you can also claim various credits to reduce your tax even further. AMT rates start at 26% and move to 28% at higher income levels while regular tax rates start at 10% and then move through a series of steps to a high of 35%.

The AMT, however, does not allow the standard deduction, personal exemptions, or certain itemized deductions. Also, some income which is not subject to the regular tax is added for AMT purposes. Your tax under AMT rules may therefore be higher than your tax under regular tax rules. The AMT determines the minimum amount of tax someone with a specific income should pay. If this person is paying that much already with regular income tax, he or she will not be subject to paying AMT. If, however, that taxpayer's regular tax falls below the minimum, he or she has to make up the difference by paying the alternative minimum tax.

Determining How Much AMT to Pay

After calculating your taxes using both methods, you will need to compare the amount you need to pay according to regular income tax and the amount according to the alternative minimum tax. If the regular tax amount is higher, then you are not liable to pay any AMT. However if the regular tax is lower, then the difference between the two amounts will be the AMT you will have to pay.

For example, if your regular income tax is calculated at $1,025 and your alternative minimum tax amounts to $1,500, you will be liable to pay a difference of $475. If however, your regular income tax is $1,500 and your alternative minimum tax is $1,025, you will not be liable to pay AMT.

On a more positive note, an AMT credit can also reduce your taxes in years after the year you paid the alternative minimum tax. This is applicable if you paid AMT because of certain "timing items" such as exercising incentive stock options.

My Kind of Sports Channel

When watching sports news on my local channels or one of the cable channels like ESPN, I always have to sift though stories about auto racing, golf, tennis, soccer, gymnastics, small college sports, women's sports, etc. to get to the stuff I'm really interest in.

It would be great if there was channel dedicated to just the major team sports in the U.S., i.e., NFL football, Major League Baseball, Division 1A college football, and men's Division 1 college basketball. I believe a channel like that would be very successful, as I know there are lots of people who have this narrow interest in sports. There could also be specialty channels for those sports not covered. Actually, some already exist - for example, The Golf Channel, Fox Soccer Channel, and The Speed Channel.

An Argument for Anonymous Surfing

I recall reading a newspaper article some time ago about people who access the Internet for free by pirating other people's unsecured wireless networks. The writer of the article advised wireless subscribers to password-protect their wireless subscriptions to keep this kind of thing from happening.

The writer went on to warn readers of some of the possible implications of stolen signals, one of which was the fact that signal thieves could use them for cyber crimes that could then be traced back to the subscriber's network. That person would then have to prove that it wasn't them who committed the crime, ex., child pornography, terrorism, spamming, phishing, etc.

However, that problem could easily be eliminated by making most Internet access anonymous. Anyone who pays for Internet access, whether dial-up, cable, DSL, wireless, satellite, or whatever, should have the option to select anonymous access. In fact, this should be the default, unless otherwise requested. That way, no Internet access via that subscription could be traced back to any computer or network.

But what about all those terrorists, child pornographers, and spammers? Wouldn't anonymity give those cyber criminals cover and make them much harder to catch? Of course it would. But it's better to let guilty people go free than to punish or even harass the innocent. This basic value is built into our Constitution. That's why one must be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Finally Saying Goodbye to Vitamins

After 20 years of taking vitamins and other over-the-counter supplements, and after being an advocate for them for almost as long, I have come to the conclusion that they have all been a waste of time and money. Therefore, once my current supplies run out, I will not be replacing them. Instead, I will take the money that I have been spending on them and use it to buy more fruits and vegetables.

Too many recent studies have shown that taking vitamins in the form of pills is of no benefit whatsoever. And there seems to be some anecdotal evidence that such products might even be harmful. Apparently, the human body just doesn’t absorb vitamins when they are taken that way. The way to get the vitamins one needs is to eat more fruits and vegetables. That’s the way nature apparently intended for us to acquire our vitamins and other nutrition.

Not surprisingly, the companies that produce vitamins, supplements, and similar pills insist that their products are both safe and effective, and vehemently dispute studies that indicate anything to the contrary. And if it were only a handful of studies that called their products into question, I would tend to side these companies. However, I’ve recently read about independent study after independent study coming to similar conclusions about the inefficacy of vitamin supplements.

Of course, the manufacturers of those products counter with studies of their own. But who are you going to believe, impartial scientific studies or those conducted by corporations who have everything to gain from a particular outcome? Obviously, each individual has to make his or her own decision regarding vitamins and supplements, and I’m in no way trying to tell anyone else what to do. I’m just saying that I’m basing my decision on the available science.

So Much Heresy on Christian TV

Have you taken a look at some of the programming on so-called “Christian” cable TV channels lately? While these channels supposedly carry Christian programs 24 hours a day, much of what they air is anything but that. In fact, it has more of a potential for negative impact on one’s spiritual life than does some of the godless stuff often found on the other channels.

The problem is all of those preachers who claim that the Christian life is supposed to be one of earthly prosperity. In order to activate the prosperity that’s coming to them, these preachers claim, people must first send in (to these preachers) what is called “seed money.” This will supposedly guarantee that God will send those donors riches either directly or through other people.

Those who have been contributing money for years, but haven’t gotten their riches yet (we’re talking about millions of people here), are urged to continue giving until it happens for them. These preachers will beg, plead, cry, and even occasionally use veiled threats of punishment from God in order to coax viewers into calling toll-free numbers and making donations.

All of this, of course, is complete heresy. Very few notions could be more unbiblical. The Bible says the Christian life is not an easy one. It is a life of cross-bearing, service, and obedience. Furthermore, God does not promise anyone riches or success for supporting His work.

Even if some of these preachers are using the money they collect for all the right causes, their tactics are wrong. They might feel, as TV preachers, that this is the best way to motivate people to support their ministries. But that doesn’t make it right. If a given ministry were in the will of God, He would make sure that it survived. However, a ministry that must comprise its principles and lower itself to ungodly methods in order to stay afloat does not deserve to survive.

Keep in mind that many of these preachers live a life of luxury – with multiple mansions and private jets – while their credulous contributors consist mainly of the lower middle class and poor. One day, God is going to judge these pastors for exploiting so many people and deceiving them into handing over the precious little of this world’s goods that they had. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes on Judgment Day. 

What Cause Could Be Nobler Than Ours?

You see it all the time – advocacy groups and crusaders of all stripes testifying in front of Congress and various state legislatures to drum up support for their particular cause. Whether their purpose is to support their pet issue by arguing for more funds, asking that its funding not be cut, or just bringing some more attention to it, all of these assorted groups and individuals have something in common.

That is, they just can’t imagine any cause being more worthy or more noble than their own. They feel that the cause they are advancing is of the utmost importance, even to the exclusion of many others that are clearly just as vital – in the eyes of any impartial observer.

Ultimately, the advocates who are the most vocal and/or have the most resources to spend to forward their goals usually get the lion’s share of the legislative action. As a result, more important matters are often left by the wayside.

It’s a shame that people have such tunnel vision and that our nation has been splintered off by that kind of factionalism. And why do we have to have such an adversarial system of allocating vital public resources? I doubt that our Founding Fathers envisioned such a thing. They seemed more concerned about the general welfare. I believe we would all be better off if our nation still took its cue from them.

Vindicated by the White Part of an Orange Peel

I’ve always eaten the white underside of an orange peel. While there’s nothing special or tasty about it, I have had the desire to eat it from early childhood. Back then, my parents would scold me every time they saw me doing that. They said it was a nasty habit and that this part of an orange peel couldn’t possibly be good for anyone, and should therefore be discarded.

Well, guess what? Flash forward 40 years and we are now being told that the white part of an orange peel is the most nutritious portion of the entire fruit. Anyway, that’s what various studies have revealed lately. Perhaps I’ve always known something (that I never realized I knew) about the common orange. Or maybe it’s a small part of that innate desire for survival that God embeds into all of us from birth. Whatever the case, it feels good to have been vindicated – even by a fruit. 

Kissing the Ring of Political Correctness

Warning: The following article contains extreme amounts of political incorrectness. Parental discretion is advised.

Over the past several days, President Barack Obama has been busy doing damage control over an off-the-cuff remark he made about the Special Olympics during an appearance Thursday night on The Tonight Show. As the president joked about his lack of bowling skills with host Jay Leno, he compared them to something one might see in the Special Olympics.

I am frankly disappointed that Obama, like so many other modern politicians, has decided to kiss the ring of political correctness at a time when he should instead be suggesting what his critics might want to kiss. Even though he obviously meant no harm with his remark, he is repenting in sackcloth and ashes, crawling on his hands and knees and begging Special Olympics Chairman Tim Shriver -- and all the contestants and parents associated with that organization -- for forgiveness. How unbecoming a President of the United States!

In my opinion, the people who are the most upset about Obama's so-called gaffe are insulting the mentally and physically challenged far more than he ever did. What they are doing is projecting an additional disability on those folks -- one of a total lack of a sense of humor. How would you like for someone to assume that you had no sense of humor just because you had a mental or physical disability?

Now, I know some people are probably thinking that I would feel much differently about this situation if I had a mental or physical disability, or had a child with one. No, I wouldn't. I grew up in poverty, yet it mattered not to me when people made fun of the poor. I have twice survived stage-three cancer (two unrelated kinds, 12 years apart), yet I have no problem with people making light of that disease or even making jokes about it. 

I'm not that sensitive. Instead, I choose to laugh things off and move on. It's too bad that so few people follow my example. Long ago, my parents taught me the meaning of a simple three-word phrase, "get over it." 

These days, we just have too many people who have left common sense behind. It's as if they have allowed the PC Pod People to take over their brains. They and the mindless media regularly turn non-stories into major scandals.  

They need to chill out and stop wasting their valuable time focusing on petty grievances and offenses. Don't they have more serious matters to be concerned about? Hello! Aren't a recession, high unemployment, home foreclosures around every corner, and two wars enough to occupy their minds right now? Apparently not, as they must always set aside time to defend society's sacred cows.

If there is indeed intelligent life on other planets and those creatures can look in on news reports from planet Earth, I wonder what they would think about such absurdities. Actually, I do have an idea as to how they might react. Are you familiar with an activity often abbreviated on the Internet as lmao? I think those extraterrestrials might be doing a lot of that right now.

Classic Rants and Raves #73

I really don't understand the success of the Make-a-Wish Foundation and similar organizations that help grant the wishes of those with life-threatening illnesses. When I had cancer 11 years ago, I had only one wish - to get well again. At that time, I couldn't have cared less about anything else.       

---

The main reason I won't seek or accept advice on things like finances, relationships, etc. is because, over the years, I've figured out what works for me and what doesn't. After all, I've been living with myself for 48 years.

---

The closer a potentially frightening event (ex., getting the results of medical examination) gets, the less scary it becomes. For example, most events like this cause more anxiety for us when they are three weeks away than when they are only a day away.

---

Whenever people call you a workaholic, show them how silly that word is by telling them you have to get back to your "workahol." 

---

I don't watch as much TV as I used to because, over the last few years, it has become emasculated by political correctness. Other than news and sports programs, most of what's on TV now is directed at women, children, and homosexuals. They can keep it. 

---

During his nomination hearings, I was very encouraged to hear the media referring to then-Chief Justice Nominee John G. Roberts as "young." He's 50 years old, so it's nice to know that I might still be considered young five years from now. 

---

Why is there such an inconsistency when it comes to silly questions? For example, no one ever asks a 35-year-old man or woman, who is married, why he/she is married. That would be a silly question, right? However, it's just as silly to ask why a 35-year-old man or woman is not married, but people do this all the time.

---

I consider myself to be an outsider's outsider. A lot of people will say they are outsiders, even though they are well connected and networked throughout their community, state, and nation. Those people are not real outsiders. They remind me of some of the folks in Hollywood who claim to be shy, even though they do nude scenes!