Question:

I’m taking a tax accounting class (online) from a local university. In the course of inter-student course communication I criticized the text book that we were using.  The teacher (a CPA) stood by her choice of the text book, and of course as a student who needs a respectable grade backed down.  After the online confrontation I checked the authors and the teacher’s credentials. I found that the teacher is an alumni of the same college (and location) as one of the authors. Comments?

So, to rephrase the issue, student has firm conviction as to poor quality of course materials but sacrifices those convictions for possible improved grade. Yes, definite reason for concern about ethics in this situation.

Response:

Also many colleges have what is known as "publish or perish."  They have to publish something or they are history.

Generally speaking, at the colleges and universities where it is "publish or perish," writing a textbook doesn’t count for squat.

Response:

While it has been years since I’ve had a formal accounting class, I never had an accounting instructor who relied exclusively on a single text.  Some books covered certain areas better than others and in different ways. When I went to college we had one text book each for most classes, many of them written (badly) by the professor.

How many is many? In 70 or so college classes I’ve taken which had a text book, one was written by the instructor. It was as well written as any other I’ve encountered in that field.

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, This probably sounds rather vindictive coming from a student but I have to ask anyway. I’m taking a tax accounting class (online) from a local university. In the course of inter-student course communication I criticized the text book that we were using.  The teacher (a CPA) stood by her choice of the text book, and of course as a student who needs a respectable grade backed down.  After the online confrontation I checked the authors and the teacher’s credentials. I found that the teacher is an alumni of the same college (and location) as one of the authors. Comments?

1. The teacher is an "alumnus" of the same college. "Alumni" is plural. 2. I don’t see an ethical problem here, based upon the facts as given.

Response:

You have the right to say what you want and to accept the consequences of your actions.  Frankly, I don’t think the text book used is significant unless the book was inaccurate.  In my experience, the instructor often required one to acquire the textbook that the instructor personally wrote. Publish or die was once the watchword for profs.  I’m sure one of the instructors that often contribute here will weigh in on this one.  

‘Publish or perish’ usually only applies to journal articles. The general attitude is that most textbooks are written by hacks, which then causes the professor to write their own, which reinforces that attitude.

Response:

It does seem reasonable that the teacher of the course, who is also a CPA might have many reasons for the selection of teaching materials. Of course the teacher woudn’t want to do anything

Benefiting a friend is not necessarily unethical or wrong. Are there factual or procedural errors in the text? Are there errors because the text is no longer current? Did you give specific examples that were in error or needed improvement. There are no perfect textbooks, and every text on a field related to taxes or business needs frequent updates. Did you have a better book in mind to replace it with? It looks like you are stretching to find some sort of ethical problem where none exists. Let me put it this way.  When I was in college we had many textbooks with tons of errors, misprints, typos, etc. but we still had to use them because the professor wrote it.     And some of those professors were the head of the department.  

Have seen no textbooks without errors. Professors writing their own textbooks has been done for centuries. Sometimes it is because it is the best, more often it is another source of income. That is not the case here. The textbook in question was co-authored by someone that happened to go to the same school the teacher did. There was not even any proof that they had even ever met, let alone anything improper. There was nothing presented that pointed to the teacher profiting in any way. Calling this an ethical problem is a severe stretch.

Response:

While it has been years since I’ve had a formal accounting class, I never had an accounting instructor who relied exclusively on a single text.  Some books covered certain areas better than others and in different ways.  

When I went to college we had one text book each for most classes, many of them written (badly) by the professor. To send me e-mail exorcise NO Spam from my e-mail address.     —–= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =—– http://www.newsfeeds.com – The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! —–==  Over 80,000 Newsgroups – 16 Different Servers! =—–

Response:

It does seem reasonable that the teacher of the course, who is also a CPA might have many reasons for the selection of teaching materials.

Of course the teacher woudn’t want to do anything Are there factual or procedural errors in the text? Are there errors because the text is no longer current? Did you give specific examples that were in error or needed improvement. There are no perfect textbooks, and every text on a field related to taxes or business needs frequent updates. Did you have a better book in mind to replace it with? It looks like you are stretching to find some sort of ethical problem where none exists.

Let me put it this way.  When I was in college we had many textbooks with tons of errors, misprints, typos, etc. but we still had to use them because the professor wrote it.     And some of those professors were the head of the department.   To send me e-mail exorcise NO Spam from my e-mail address.     —–= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =—– http://www.newsfeeds.com – The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! —–==  Over 80,000 Newsgroups – 16 Different Servers! =—–

Response:

Hi, This probably sounds rather vindictive coming from a student but I have to ask anyway. I’m taking a tax accounting class (online) from a local university. In the course of inter-student course communication I criticized the text book that we were using.  The teacher (a CPA) stood by her choice of the text book, and of course as a student who needs a respectable grade backed down.  After the online confrontation I checked the authors and the teacher’s credentials. I found that the teacher is an alumni of the same college (and location) as one of the authors. Comments?

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, This probably sounds rather vindictive coming from a student but I have to ask anyway. I’m taking a tax accounting class (online) from a local university. In the course of inter-student course communication I criticized the text book that we were using.  The teacher (a CPA) stood by her choice of the text book, and of course as a student who needs a respectable grade backed down.  After the online confrontation I checked the authors and the teacher’s credentials. I found that the teacher is an alumni of the same college (and location) as one of the authors. Comments?

How is the fact that the author of a book your teacher prefers was written by an author that also happened to go to the same school an ethical problem. She was taught a certain way at that school. His book probably follows that way. It may have been used at that school. Where is the ethical problem? It does seem reasonable that the teacher of the course, who is also a CPA might have many reasons for the selection of teaching materials. Are there factual or procedural errors in the text? Are there errors because the text is no longer current? Did you give specific examples that were in error or needed improvement. There are no perfect textbooks, and every text on a field related to taxes or business needs frequent updates. Did you have a better book in mind to replace it with? It looks like you are stretching to find some sort of ethical problem where none exists.

Response:

birds of a feather.

Response:

I found that the teacher is an alumni of the same college (and location) as one of the authors.

I was expecting you to say your teacher was the author of the book.     Not surprised, when I went to college alot of books were written by the professors I had. Also many colleges have what is known as "publish or perish."  They have to publish something or they are history.     To send me e-mail exorcise NO Spam from my e-mail address.     —–= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =—– http://www.newsfeeds.com – The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! —–==  Over 80,000 Newsgroups – 16 Different Servers! =—–

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Question:

Bush pushes the big lie toward the brink Robert Scheer – Creators Syndicate 03.04.03 – So the truth is out: George W. Bush lied when he claimed to be worried about Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction.  Otherwise, Iraq’s stepped-up cooperation with the U.N. on disarmament would be stunningly good news, obviating the need to rush to war. Instead, the U.N. weapons inspectors’ verification of Iraq’s destruction of missiles, private meetings with Iraqi weapons scientists, visits to locations where biological and chemical weapons were destroyed in 1991 and a series of unfettered flights by U2 spy planes have been met with a shrug and sneer in Washington. The White House line is that even if the Iraqis destroy all their slingshots, Goliath is still bringing his tanks and instituting "regime change." The arrogance is breathtaking. We have demanded that a country disarm — and even as it is doing so, we say it doesn’t matter: it’s too late; we’re coming in. Put down your guns and await the slaughter. Abraham Lincoln once observed that even a free people can be fooled for a time — and this, mind you, was long before Fox News existed — and in his chaotic two-year presidency, Bush has pushed the Big Lie approach so far that we are seeing dramatic signs of its cracking: an international backlash, a domestic peace movement and whistle-blowing from inside our own intelligence and diplomatic corps. "We have not seen such systematic distortion of intelligence, such systematic manipulation of the American people, since the war in Vietnam," wrote John Brady Kiesling, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service in his letter of resignation last week to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Kiesling, who  was political counselor in U.S. embassies throughout the Mideast, added that "until this administration, it had been possible to believe that by upholding the policies of my president, I was also upholding the interests of the American people and the world. I believe it no longer." And this brave man is not the only one who has caught on. The entire world is astonished that our president is lying, not about a personal indiscretion, but about the most sacred duty of the leader of the most powerful nation in human history: the duty not to recklessly endanger the lives of his own or the world’s people. Yet lie he has. The first lie, claimed outright, was that Iraq aided and abetted the Sept. 11 terrorists. There is no evidence at all for this claim. It is also interesting to note that not a single leading Al Qaeda operative has turned out to be Iraqi. The latest to be nabbed, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, was living in Pakistan, was raised in Kuwait and studied engineering — and presumably the physics of explosives — at a college in North Carolina. [note: new A-Q suspect arrested in Pakistan on 3/15/03 -- see end of text] The second lie was that Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction represent an imminent threat to U.S. security. Despite the most hugely expensive but secret high-tech spy operation in human history —  estimated by most at well over $100 billion a year — and a vast network of defectors and spies, we have not been able to find their supposed weapons. The third and most dangerous lie is that our mission now is to bring lasting peace to the Mideast by a devastating invasion of Iraq, which will end, as the president outlined last week, in U.S. dominance over the structure of government and politics throughout the region. After abandoning promising efforts by the previous administration to create peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the Bush team now claims that changing Muslim governments around the world will end the downward spiral of violence there. Which leads us to another lie: that this is all good for our ally, Israel — the claim of the cabal of neoconservative ideologues running our Mideast policy. In fact, however, Israel will be placed in a terribly dangerous position, serving as a fig leaf for U.S. ambitions, further ensuring that it remain forever an isolated military garrison. This construction of a new world order comes from a naive and untraveled president, emboldened in his ignorance by advisors who have been plotting an aggressive Pax Americana ever since the Soviet bloc’s collapse. Bush insiders Richard Perle, Elliott Abrams, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld are all members of something called the Project for a New American Century that has been pushing for a U.S. redesign of the Mideast since 1997. After Sept. 11, they seized on our national tragedy as a way to enlist George W. in support of their grand design. Not only was this reckless scheme never mentioned by Bush during the election campaign, it was the sort of thing renounced as "nation- building," something he would never support. Yet another lie.

Question:

Snowstorm Socks Minnesota, Wisconsin The first major snowstorm of the year has arrived in much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin.     KARE 11 Chief Meteorologist Ken Barlow predicted snow, heavy at times would fall throughout the night, then diminish by midday Monday. As the snows exit, some areas could see winds increasing to 20 to 30 miles per hour.     Barlow says that a total of ten inches of snow is likely for the Twin Cities Metro area.     At least twenty rural school districts have notified KARE that they planned to delay classes Monday.     You can read the current list of school closings and delays on the KARE 11 School Alert web page.     The Minnesota Department of Transportation is warning that roads and less traveled highways have become very treacherous and slippery. MnDOT is warning drivers to slow down and to allow extra time for planned trips. Metro-area commuters can check traffic conditions at the For current traffic conditions, click on KARE 11 Traffic Scan page, or by watching KARE 11 TV for live updates beginning at 5:00 a.m.     The Minnesota Department of Transportation lists out state road conditions on its web site. A map of Wisconsin road conditions is available on the Wisconsin DOT web site. Note: These sites will likely be busy, you may encounter slow loading times.     The National Weather Service is advising people to delay long trips. If you must travel, the Service suggests you carry a winter emergency kit in your car. That kit should include: Blankets or sleeping bags, a flashlight with extra batteries, a first aid kit, a knife, high-calorie, non-perishable food, extra clothing to keep dry, an empty can and water-proof matches to melt snow for drinking water, a shovel, windshield scraper and brush, a tow rope, and booster cables. The service also recommends: Keep your gas tank near full to avoid ice in the tank and fuel lines. Try not to travel alone. Let someone know your timetable and primary and alternate routes Let someone know your timetable and primary and alternate routes.

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When drivers’ brains get a busy signal By Jane E. Allen Times Staff Writer February 3 2003 We’ve heard the warnings. Whether that cell phone conversation is a simple reminder to pick up milk or the makings of a complex financial deal, when you’re behind the wheel, it detracts from the business at hand. Now researchers are finding out exactly why. The brain can only do so much at once, they say, and as a result, can’t fully process the visual signals. With the visual and auditory signals competing, the driver’s ability to see and react to what’s ahead — even when gazing directly at a car, sign or pedestrian — is diminished. This phenomenon of "inattention blindness," in which the brain doesn’t fully process what the eyes are taking in, helps explain how cell phone conversations distract drivers and contribute to an increasing number of accidents. There are more than 137 million U.S. cellular subscribers, and studies show that the vast majority of them use their phones behind the wheel. "Looking and seeing aren’t one and the same," said University of Utah psychologist David Strayer, who has spent five years studying how cellular phone use interferes with driving. "Just because your eyes are directed at something doesn’t mean you’re processing it. Seeing means paying attention. When you’re not attending to driving, you’re more of a hazard." Strayer and his colleagues previously found that motorists talking on phones were more likely to react sluggishly to traffic signals or to simply miss them. With a conversation diverting their attention from the road, drivers are likelier to be tripped up by sudden events such as a child darting into their path, another car slamming on its brakes or a light change, Strayer said. Many states have considered restricting cell phone use while driving. New York banned the use of hand-held phones by drivers in 2001, but Strayer and his colleagues have found that the impairment occurs equally with hand-held or hands-free models. That suggests the problem lies with the distraction of the conversation, not of holding the phone. The research appears in the March issue of the American Psychological Assn.’s Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. Some of the findings also appear in the February/March issue of Injury Insights, published by the nonprofit National Safety Council. The researchers drew their conclusions from several related experiments. They placed 20 college students in a high-tech driving simulator and had them pass numerous billboards while navigating a virtual road. Afterward, they tested the subjects’ recall of the billboards. They had 50% less recall of those billboards they passed while talking on the phone than those they passed while not using the phone. In another experiment, they used video cameras and sophisticated instruments to track the students’ eye movements during virtual drives. Even when the instruments confirmed that the participants were looking directly at objects along the simulated road, those talking on the phone were less likely to remember the objects. The authors noted that although half the participants believed it was tougher to talk and drive than just to drive, few thought their own driving was impaired by casual cell phone conversations, even when the experiment showed otherwise. The problem lies with the distraction of a conversation, not of holding a phone, experts say.

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VENTURA COUNTY Low-Income Residents Seek Access to Transit In a two-hour hearing, county transportation panel takes ideas and comments on raising funds and expanding bus service. By Amanda Covarrubias Times Staff Writer February 4 2003 Residents of two low-income communities in Ventura County asked a transportation panel Monday to provide them with bus service to get children to school, parents to work and ailing relatives to health clinics. Speakers from El Rio and Wheeler Canyon were among several groups who suggested ways the Ventura County Transportation Commission could best use state and federal transit money. The two-hour hearing at Camarillo City Hall provided a glimpse into how low-income residents struggle to get from one place to another without cars. "They don’t have the luxury of worrying about traffic or deciding whether to use regular or premium gas," said Jim White, director of transportation and development for Arc Ventura County, a private organization that serves people with disabilities. White was one of about 75 people who attended the hearing, along with several residents of unincorporated El Rio and from a mobile home park in unincorporated Wheeler Canyon. Their testimony will be researched and compiled into a report that commissioners will use to determine funding priorities. Several El Rio residents said bus service in their community is inadequate and does not cover places people need to get to, such as the local gymnasium, Rio Mesa High School and a health clinic. Resident Lizette Trevino said she worries when her teenage daughter and son miss the school bus and have to walk home. "When they miss the bus at school, they need to walk home through Central [Avenue] up to Santa Clara [Avenue]," Trevino said. "If you’ve ever been through those back roads, there’s nothing safe there for them. It’s dangerous out there." Others told the panel that bus riders have to cross heavy traffic at Auto Center Drive and Santa Clara Avenue to get to the nearest bus stop and that one of the drop-off points is a dirt lot that becomes muddy in the rain. "Our kids have a very difficult time getting around," said Nyeland Acres resident Soledad Trevino. "They can’t get involved in after-school programs because the gym is a two-mile walk away. There’s all kinds of things that could be incorporated into a bus line." Across the county in Wheeler Canyon, the 194 residents of a mobile home park between Santa Paula and Ventura do not have any bus service, said Sergio Hernandez, who has lived in the close-knit enclave for three years. "What they’re doing is walking two miles to get to the bus stop and there’s no sidewalks," Hernandez said in Spanish. "Women and children are walking only on paved roads." Resident Beatriz Zizumbo, who owns a car, said neighbors are always asking her to take their children to school if they missed the bus. She said many women are stranded at home all day with young children while their husbands work. She told the board she recently drove a pregnant neighbor who was in labor to a local health clinic. Low-income residents frequently don’t call 911, she said, because they’re unable to pay for an ambulance.

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February 5, 2003 Aid to Poor Faces Tighter Scrutiny By ROBERT PEAR WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 – President Bush’s budget proposes new eligibility requirements that would make it more difficult for low-income families to obtain a range of government benefits, from tax credits to school lunches. Arguing that much of the federal money intended for poor people is diverted through error and fraud, the administration wants to require families to supply more proof of their income and living arrangements before they can qualify for aid. Critics, including some local officials, said today that the extra steps would deter eligible poor people from applying for needed assistance. The Bush budget would also replace one of the largest federal housing programs with a block grant to states, which could redirect some of the money away from working poor people in cities. Mr. Bush said he wanted to shift money and responsibility for this and other social welfare programs, including Medicaid, to the states. About half of the 28 million children in the National School Lunch Program receive free meals because they come from low-income families. But John H. Rice, a spokesman for the federal Food and Nutrition Service, said the government had found that the number of students certified for free meals was about 25 percent higher than the number who appeared to be eligible, according to Census Bureau data. The Bush administration wants to require families to produce evidence of their income, like pay stubs or tax returns, to get free school lunches. Now parents report their own income, and a small sample is checked by school officials. When the government tested these tougher requirements in eight school districts last year, there was a 20 percent decline in the number of children approved for free lunches. Many federal, state and local programs use school lunch data to decide who gets billions of dollars in other types of assistance like subsidized child care and health care. In one pilot project, at Oak Park and River Forest High School near Chicago, the number of children approved for free lunches dropped 50 percent. At schools in Morenci, Ariz., the number dropped 36 percent. Diana Gonzalez-Sumpter, the food service director in Morenci, said that parents had made honest mistakes in some cases. A few families, she said, had deliberately understated their income. Ms. Gonzalez-Sumpter said she supported the verification requirements because she had "strong feelings about the stewardship of public funds." But she said that the requirements deterred some eligible people, including immigrants, from applying for benefits. The Bush proposal could impose time-consuming new duties on school employees in large school districts. "It would be a nightmare for us," said Nadine L. Mann, director of operations for the child nutrition programs in East Baton Rouge Parish, La., which serves 44,000 lunches a day to schoolchildren. Barry D. Sackin, vice president of the American School Food Service Association, whose members run feeding programs, said the Bush plan "would turn us into accountants and auditors and take us away from what we should be doing: serving nutritious meals to children." The Treasury Department is equally determined to crack down on what it says are erroneous payments under the earned-income tax credit program, one of the nation’s biggest antipoverty programs. At present, the government estimates, $9.3 billion of the $30 billion paid out each year in tax credits to low-income working families may be a result of fraud or honest errors. In 1999, the Treasury says, 27 percent to 32 percent of claims were paid in error. President Bush is asking Congress for $100 million and 650 new employees to identify potentially erroneous claims in advance, before money is paid out. The Internal Revenue Service has tried such procedures, with people who reapply for the tax credit after having claims denied in prior years. The I.R.S. efforts were harshly criticized by the agency’s own ombudsman and by the General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress. In a report to Congress last month, the ombudsman, Nina E. Olson, the national taxpayer advocate, said that some legitimate claims for the tax credit were "erroneously denied." Moreover, she said, some taxpayers who pressed their claims found themselves in an "endless loop" of audits and delays. Ms. Olson, a tax lawyer, emphasized "how complicated it is for taxpayers and I.R.S. employees to determine eligibility" for the credit. The documentation requirements create a hardship in large cities like New York, where many of the working poor live in rented rooms and pay their rent in cash, Ms. Olson said. The General Accounting Office asked 21 tax examiners at the Internal Revenue Service to evaluate five sets of documents filed in support of applications for the credit. "For none of the 5 scenarios did all 21 examiners agree, and in some cases, the examiners reached widely varying judgments about whether the evidence was sufficient to support a claim," the accounting office said. The block grant proposed by Mr. Bush would replace the nation’s largest rental assistance program, known as Section 8. States would get the money, $13.6 billion a year, which is now allocated to 2,600 local housing authorities. Local officials scorned the plan. "Who needs an extra layer of bureaucracy?" asked Elizabeth C. Morris, chief executive of the San Diego Housing Commission. "States would take 5 percent to 10 percent of the money for administrative costs, so there might be less for low-income families." &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& February 5, 2003 Bush Budget Increases Push to Find Tax Cheats By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON President Bush’s budget would increase by a third or more the number of audits of taxpayers suspected of hiding income received from their businesses, partnerships, investments and offshore accounts. The administration identified five areas to which more resources would be devoted to stem tax cheating: abusive corporate tax shelters, unreported income among higher-income taxpayers, failure by employers to turn over taxes withheld from paychecks or even to withhold them, misuse of trusts and offshore accounts to hide income, and "tax denial" schemes that are based on claims that the tax code does not apply to most Americans. The proposal is a first step toward reversing a long decline in enforcement of the tax laws. It could bring in billions of dollars owed to the government and would also help the states, which rely on Internal Revenue Service enforcement much more than on their own audits. But the proposal for I.R.S. financing falls far short of what Charles O. Rossotti, the last I.R.S. commissioner, said in November that the service needed to enforce the tax laws adequately. Under the Bush plan the I.R.S. would get an additional $133 million for these audits and other law enforcement work in these five areas. Over all the I.R.S. would receive $10.4 billion, a 5.25 percent increase, but still less per tax return, after adjusting for inflation than it got five years ago. Law enforcement, which includes audits, takes up almost 40 percent of the I.R.S. budget. The additional money would "target the real problem areas in a fair and evenhanded manner, restoring confidence in the tax system for hard-working taxpayers," said Pamela Olson, assistant treasury secretary for tax policy. "At the same time the I.R.S. goes after those who cheat," Ms. Olson added, "the I.R.S. must provide better service to law-abiding taxpayers and respect every taxpayer’s rights. It can and it must do both." But according to the formula Mr. Rossotti recommended in his final report to the I.R.S. Oversight Board, the agency would need an overall increase of more than 7 percent, as opposed to the 5.25 percent proposed by President Bush, to start closing the law enforcement gap. Over the last five years, demands on the I.R.S. have grown in several ways. Congress has made the tax code far more complex, while at the same time imposing complicated new procedures to protect the rights of taxpayers. A growing number of promoters now teach people to exploit those procedures to thwart audits and the collection of taxes, according to Mr. Bush’s budget. Congress also ordered better service to cooperative taxpayers. Without extra money to handle these duties, the I.R.S. diverted money from audits, which in turn lowered the risks of cheaters being caught. The Treasury Department did not detail how much of the extra money would be applied to each of the five areas of cheating. It said only that with $133 million more it could increase audits of individuals who make more than $100,000 from 125,000 last year to 166,000 next year, a one-third increase, at a cost of about $3,200 per audit. For some tax dodges the number of audits would increase by more than a third; for others, the figure would be less. The department also proposed tougher rules to make both promoters of tax shelters and the companies that buy them keep more records and make more disclosures. The use of artificial losses in foreign currency transactions to make capital gains vanish is one of the most popular tax dodges. So are corporate transactions that inflate interest deductions. Entrepreneurs who place their business in a trust, because promoters persuaded them that it will make profits immune from taxes, are another area covered by the budget proposal. The extra money would also increase audits of those who buy into the growing number of fraudulent schemes asserting that it is legal to stop paying taxes if one uses a "pure trust," renounces his Social Security number or declares himself a sovereign citizen or a citizen of the state in which he lives (but not the United States). Another fraud, known as the 861 position, asserts that wages paid by American-owned companies are exempt from tax. None of these claims have been upheld by … read more »

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Jon Summers, Reporter Binion’s Horseshoe at Center of Federal Investigation (Jan. 29) — Most employees have money taken out of every paycheck to pay for their share of their company’s health insurance plan. But employees at Binion’s Horseshoe say the money they paid into their health insurance plan actually ended up in the hands of the Horseshoe–not the insurance company. Several employees have contacted Eyewitness News saying that when they go to the doctor they’re being turned away because their claims aren’t being paid. The situation has lead to a lot of frustration, anger and now a federal investigation. Sam and Laura Wood say Binion’s Horseshoe is gambling with their health and finances: "I’m paying my part, I’m just waiting on them to pay theirs," said Sam Wood, a Binion’s Horseshoe employee. The Woods say Horseshoe owner Becky Behnen is taking money out of Sam’s paycheck but not paying the insurance company, Mediversal. They claim this has been going on for more than a year. "I called my pediatrician and they hadn’t paid them. [I] called my OBGYN, [and they] hadn’t paid him. Then I started getting bills," said Laura Wood, bills totaling thousands of dollars. In addition, creditors have started calling. "We’re telling them that we’re trying to get the insurance money from the company I work for," said Sam Wood. Several Horseshoe employees say they’re in the same boat. Now the Gaming Control Board and the U.S. Department of Labor are looking into the matter. "Anyone can come in and file a charge. We conduct an investigation of the charges that are filed and we don’t prejudge the charge, we do a thorough investigation and determine if there’s a violation or not," said Stephen Wamser, U.S. Dept. Of Labor: Behnen declined to speak on camera, but admits she’s "fallen behind" on insurance payments. Although she wouldn’t say how far behind or when the problem will be resolved, she says the Horseshoe has fallen on hard times, contradicting what she told Eyewitness News back in October. "No, no the Horseshoe is not having financial problems. I mean the Horseshoe has been here for 50 years, and I think it will be here long after I’m gone," said Becky Behnen, Binion’s Horseshoe. Now she says the economy and competition from California casinos are taking their toll. But the Woods say Behnen’s actions are taking a financial toll on them as they struggle to pay bills they say Binion’s is responsible for paying. The Woods are now speaking to an attorney and plan on filing a suit against the Horseshoe soon. The Department of Labor says the decision on whether to file charges against the Horseshoe should be made by the end of business on Friday. If you’re concerned you may be in a similar situation contact your insurance company and ask them if your account is current. If there is a problem, call the Department of Labor. It’s also a good idea to keep all your records until you’re sure the claim has been paid by your insurance company, because ultimately you will be held responsible for the bill.

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THE NATION States’ Budgets ‘Under Siege’ Officials are expecting a shortfall of at least $68.5billion in fiscal 2004. Red ink has forced spending cuts and delays in capital projects. By John J. Goldman Times Staff Writer February 5 2003 NEW YORK — Warning that they see no relief in sight, the nation’s state legislatures said Tuesday that the budget gap facing state governments grew by almost 50% from November to January. "State budgets are under siege. The faltering economy, declines in the stock market, contractions in the manufacturing and high-tech sectors and soaring health costs have combined to undermine the stability of state budgets," said a report prepared by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Facing the mounting gulf between revenue and income, states have delayed capital projects, tapped reserves and cut spending to balance their budgets. Officials in 29 states have imposed across-the-board budget cuts. Stringent measures are expected to continue. The report said the states’ collective budget shortfall in the current fiscal year had climbed to $25.7 billion through January, up from $17.5 billion just two months earlier. The gap for the 2004 fiscal year is currently pegged at $68.5 billion, but the analysis warned of even deeper red ink. "The magnitude of next year’s budget gap is startling," said Angela Monson, a Democratic state senator from Oklahoma who is serving as the president of the conference. "Thirty-three states estimate budget gaps in excess of 5%, with 18 of those facing gaps above 10%. "There is great cause for concern since the deficit numbers continue to grow at an alarming rate." The conference based its report on data from the first six months of the fiscal year that began July 1. Officials in 36 states said budget gaps existed midway through the current fiscal year. In an attempt to reduce the shortfalls, Medicaid spending has been cut in 13 states, outlays for education in 21 and layoffs of state employees have taken place in nine states. Proposals to increase taxes have been made either by the governor or legislators in at least 24 states. Higher taxes on cigarettes are being considered in 14 states, while six states are looking at increasing taxes on sales of alcohol. Among states facing the biggest shortfalls, Alaska has a current projected budget gap of 30%. However, some analysts say that because the state depends heavily on revenue from oil production, the problem could be eased somewhat if the price of oil remains above $30 a barrel. Colorado faces a 13.5% budget gap, caused to a large degree by the loss of 60,000 jobs in the last year. Many of those laid off held positions well above entry level. The result was a drop in personal income tax revenue. On the national level, "we are dealing with multiple years of budget problems," said Corina Eckl, head of the conference’s fiscal program. "The fact the budget gaps are approaching the sizes they are is astounding." She termed "alarming" data in the survey that showed 18 states are looking at gaps that are 10% of their projected budgets for the fiscal year that will begin July 1. Eckl said these states include California at 30%, Arizona at 25%, New York at 24% and New Jersey at 18.5%. Monson, the conference’s president, said many state officials are concerned the proposed 2004 U.S. budget does not meet the cost of some mandated federal programs, including special education and election reform. She said state planners are still waiting for an agreement in the federal budget for the current fiscal year on such issues as welfare reform and homeland security. "There has not been a recovery in the economy to push revenues in the direction they need to go," said Arturo Perez, an analyst at the conference of legislatures, a bipartisan service organization aiding lawmakers.

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Storm a few nights ago. A friend took the bus home. He called when he got home to say he had arrived safe and sound. I take a family sized first aid kit with me when travelling otherside the city even on public buses. I also carry a small belt first aid kit in my side bag. I have used it. I haven’t ever need the CPR kit but it is recent addition. My side bag is becoming useful not just for first aid kit with cpr mask but it also now carries a notepad and pens and camera for possible witness to crimes. Also I write all day, on the bus, at school where ever. I also take pictures of my routes just for my schizophrenia symptom of referencing. It is a digital camera. I am a cyborg. I had a PDA where I could read e-mail offline. But I broke it. That’s one thing I would like to carry but can’t a PDA. I can manage a laptop safely but it is too bulky to carry often.

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February 6, 2003 Warning on Hitting Debt Ceiling of $6.4 Trillion By CARL HULSE WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 – The Treasury Department warned today that the government would hit its $6.4 trillion debt ceiling around Feb. 20, and it urged Congress to increase the authority to borrow. The request was made as deficit projections have continued to increase. The move is likely to set off a battle, with Democrats’ seizing the opportunity to accuse President Bush and his party of flawed fiscal policy. Congress is still grappling with fiscal issues from last year. The House passed another stopgap spending measure tonight as senior lawmakers said negotiations were progressing on a huge spending bill that would clean up the unfinished business. The new bill, which faces a Senate vote, will keep agencies running through Feb. 20. Members of the Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate said they hoped to wrap up by that date a $391 billion measure that would finally give most agencies a fixed revenue stream for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Military spending bills were the only such measures to pass last year. "We are closing in on this," Representative C. W. Bill Young, the Florida Republican who is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said as the House voted tonight. Lawmakers said they were narrowing differences over Medicare payments, farm aid, education and other issues. They said they hoped to keep as low as possible an across-the-board spending cut instituted by the Senate to cover extra initiatives. Senator Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican who is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that if Congress could not complete the overall spending bill by next week, it should just pass a measure financing agencies at the 2002 level through the rest of the year. "Finish it now or forget it," Mr. Stevens said. Such an approach would pose a hardship to agencies that are anticipating increases but would appeal to fiscal conservatives who want to hold down spending. Mr. Young predicted that lawmakers were not going to be happy with the final product. "I don’t think any of us is going to like it," he said.

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COMMENTARY Once Again, We’re Being Railroaded By Arianna Huffington Arianna Huffington writes a syndicated column. February 6 2003 Watching freshly minted Treasury Secretary John Snow, a longtime promoter of balanced budgets, hit the Hill this week to flack for the president’s new red-ink-drenched budget, I felt as if I had stumbled across a Richard Simmons infomercial pitching Big Macs. Or Secretary of State Colin Powell shredding the Powell Doctrine in order to sell the war on Iraq to the United Nations. Of course, saying one thing and doing another is a way of life in the Bush administration. Take the president’s outrageous assertion during his State of the Union address that one of the greatest accomplishments of his presidency was "holding corporate criminals to account." He didn’t even burst out laughing. Not only is the president not holding corporate Capones to account, he’s putting them in his Cabinet. Exhibit A is Snow. During his 12-year tenure as chief executive at railroad giant CSX, Snow helped himself to a vast array of corporate indulgences. If CEO perks were pills, Snow would have overdosed. He was paid a king’s ransom — $10.1 million in 2001 alone — for doing a downright lousy job. With Snow at the helm, CSX’s profits shriveled and its stock underperformed its competitors’ by two-thirds since 1991. His reign is a case study in one of the greatest abuses of corporate America — the de-linking of performance and reward. Snow was also the lucky winner of a $24.5-million sweetheart loan from CSX — precisely the kind of insider loan made illegal by Congress last summer. But his good fortune didn’t stop there: CSX eventually forgave the massive loan entirely. Snow also will be rewarded for his mediocre tenure at CSX with an extremely generous pension agreement. No need to worry about his being forced to clip coupons on his $161,200 Cabinet salary — CSX will pay him $2.47 million a year for life. His retirement windfall will be greatly enhanced by a pension accounting scheme that gives him credit for having put in 44 years at the company, even though he’d actually been workin’ on the railroad for only 25. Last year, at a conference on retirement savings, President Bush said: "What’s fair on the top floor should be fair on the shop floor." I guess Snow didn’t get the memo. At the same time that Snow was stitching together his golden parachute, he was cutting the health benefits of newly hired employees and, according to a lawsuit, revoking life insurance benefits for some CSX retirees. This two-track take on retirement benefits is no small matter, because one of Snow’s first tasks as Treasury secretary will be overseeing new pension rules that the Bush administration wants to enact that could lead to a serious loss in benefits for older workers. During his warm-and-cozy confirmation hearing, much was made of the fact that Snow is giving up pay and benefits worth $15 million to, as Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) put it, "serve the people of the United States of America." I don’t know about you, but the idea of a man with a reported net worth of close to $100 million being forced by government ethics rules to forgo a series of lavish retirement perks — including lifetime country club memberships, annual physical checkups, free rides on the CSX jet and special room rates at the Greenbrier, a company-owned resort in West Virginia — doesn’t exactly put a patriotic lump in my throat. Sorry, Sen. Grassley, but it turns out the only executive task at which Snow truly excelled was ripping off the very same Treasury Department that he now heads. Despite raking in close to a billion dollars in pretax profits since 1998, CSX paid no federal income taxes in three of the last four years. What’s more, thanks to a combination of accounting gimmicks and tax shelters, the company was even able to score a hefty $164 million in tax rebates during that time. Having Snow, a world-class tax dodger and the lamest railroad man since Casey Jones, at the controls of our sputtering economy — the Disorient Express — has all the makings of a world-class train wreck.

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The way the politicians, republicans and democrats, rob the Social Security Trust Fund is offensive to me in so many ways. It’s bullshit all this on-budget, off-budget doubletalk.  Any one who has ever made a budget knows it’s "money in" and "money out".  What Congress is doing amounts to a "cooking of the books," which will make Enron look like a two bit fleacing. Off budget means that Cogress is tapping the Social Security Trust Fund and leaving (worthless) IOU’s in the coffers.  What’s worse is taxpayers have to service the interest on these debts and that interest money goes to foreigners and the rich who own the government bonds (IOU’s).  The Social Security Trust Fund (and Medicare for that matter) is in a world of hurt and the politicians must be taken to task for their criminal mismanagement of the futures of millions of people. Sometimes I think I don’t really have schizophrenia, just that my life has worked out to be one big symbolic protest, a protest of congress’s Social Security abuses and a passive protest of marijuanna laws.  If pot were legalized I would definitely make an attempt at becoming a productive member of society again.  Right now I think, fuck it, I ain’t even going to try.  I’ll just get my Social Security before its gone.  War on drugs, continual raising of the national debt ceiling, war for the sake of war.  Politicians, especially the republicans, in no way reflect my views and I will continue to protest silently, symbolically. Jim

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Jerasimus wrote. If pot were legalized I would definitely make an attempt at becoming a productive member of society again. Right now I think, fuck it…… Damodara wrote:

Me too Jim. If we were allowed medical marijuana my life would improve immensly. The concept of handlng co-workers and scheduals would change drastically. Certainly if they allowed us an option of Marijuana as medication many would be greatly empowered. Damo

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I’d have to get a "THC analyzer/ breath stink of smoke analyzer" in-dash device for my car. <damod…@webtv.net> wrote in message

news:858-3E43CA31-28@storefull-2196.public.lawson.webtv.net – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Jerasimus wrote. > If pot were legalized I would definitely make an attempt at becoming a > productive member of society again. Right now I think, fuck it…… > Damodara wrote: > Me too Jim. If we were allowed medical marijuana my life would improve > immensly. The concept of handlng co-workers and scheduals would change > drastically. Certainly if they allowed us an option of Marijuana as > medication many would be greatly empowered. > Damo

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Question:

Questions: It says in the snippet that GE will "take a charge of about 1.4 billion". What are they charging?  Does this charge impact the balance sheet or income statement?

A "charge" should flow through the income statement and eventually hits the balance sheet in the form of lower retained earnings than would have otherwise been reported.  It might be that they are simply transferring some of those retained earnings to the other company but I couldn’t speculate on that. It says this charge is "to boost reserves".  What reserves?  Where are reserves reported and what are they for?

I’m not sure about that as the term "reserves" is not supposed to be used in financial statements.  I would guess it would simply show up as increased equity on the books of the subsidiary company. And finally how, as the article states, does this "dress up the insurance unit to attract buyers"?  Is GE transfering capital to this Insurance unit to make a potential purchase more attractive?

Sounds like you have it pretty well figured out. — Todd Stephens

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – below is a snippet of an article I was reading.  i am trying to understand exactly what it means.  i have no accounting education i am just starting to teach myself. <ARTICLE SNIPPET On Nov. 21, General Electric (GE, news, msgs) said that it plans to take a charge of about $1.4 billion to boost reserves at GE Employers Reinsurance. Wall Street had been expecting the news and had pegged the charge at $1 billion to $2 billion. The consensus among analysts who follow the company is that the move is part of an effort to dress up the insurance unit to attract buyers. In addition, they speculate that a sale of the Employers Reinsurance could be just the first step in a larger restructuring of General Electric by its new CEO, Jeffrey Immelt. </ARTICLE SNIPPET Questions: It says in the snippet that GE will "take a charge of about 1.4 billion". What are they charging?  

Most likely a 1.4 billion debit to some non operating expense account for an "extraordinary, non recurring" cost with a like credit to a liability account, probably a reserve for future reinsurance losses. Does this charge impact the balance sheet or income statement?

Yes – both. It says this charge is "to boost reserves".  What reserves?  Where are reserves reported and what are they for?

Most likely future reinsurance losses. And finally how, as the article states, does this "dress up the insurance unit to attract buyers"?  Is GE transfering capital to this Insurance unit to make a potential purchase more attractive?

The idea is to take a very large "one time, non recurring, extraordinary" loss now rather than "bleed to death" in the future.  This can be viewed as prudent accounting, earnings management, or outright fraud, depending on the facts and circumstances behind it.  In any case, a buyer will find it much easier to report profits in the future. Your questions are excellent questions.  I hope you hang around and ask more of them. Incidentally, GE is what I refer to as a "trust me" company.  It is so large and complex that it is pretty much not possible to truly understand its’ financial reports – just too much mixing of apples and oranges. Jim Hudspeth

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – below is a snippet of an article I was reading.  i am trying to understand exactly what it means.  i have no accounting education i am just starting to teach myself. <ARTICLE SNIPPET On Nov. 21, General Electric (GE, news, msgs) said that it plans to take a charge of about $1.4 billion to boost reserves at GE Employers Reinsurance. Wall Street had been expecting the news and had pegged the charge at $1 billion to $2 billion. The consensus among analysts who follow the company is that the move is part of an effort to dress up the insurance unit to attract buyers. In addition, they speculate that a sale of the Employers Reinsurance could be just the first step in a larger restructuring of General Electric by its new CEO, Jeffrey Immelt. </ARTICLE SNIPPET Questions: It says in the snippet that GE will "take a charge of about 1.4 billion". What are they charging?  Does this charge impact the balance sheet or income statement? It says this charge is "to boost reserves".  What reserves?  Where are reserves reported and what are they for? And finally how, as the article states, does this "dress up the insurance unit to attract buyers"?  Is GE transfering capital to this Insurance unit to make a potential purchase more attractive? Thank you.

I am aware of the report that you mention though not the specifics of the accounting of either GE or the Employers Reinsurance subsidiary.  * Generally *, the charge is to recognize the potential for claims in the period for which the event occurred which would result in a claim.  Though other regular posters may be more precise in the specifics (&/or more correct), debit to an insurance claims expense account, to record the expense in the current period, and credit to (increase) an insurance claims reserves account.   This affects both the income statement, as the expense is being recognized for the current period, as well as the balance sheet, though in a lesser degree, through the increase in the reserves account.  Along with that, the retained earnings would be stated at a correspondingly lower amount. Later, when the claim is actually paid, whether in the current period or a later period, debit (decrease) the insurance claims reserves account and credit (decrease) cash for the amount of the payment. Assuming US / GAAP.  YMMV, VWP, PDOCT, DNATAH. Dressing up?  I would * guess * that if the expense is already recognized then a successor owner would not have to do so (and avoiding a surprise), increasing cash and investments that are restricted for payment of claims, but still available to be invested and have the return on investment, until a claim is paid.  A stock analyst that specializes in insurance may better answer that part of your question. —      **  Working to make "taxes less taxing"  ** Ohio Tax Man – Robert Thompson Westerville (Columbus) Ohio My comments are for informational (and sometimes humorous) YMMV – your mileage may vary VWP – void where prohibited PDOCT – professional driver on closed track DNATAH – do not attempt this at home purposes only.  They do not constitute legal or professional advice.  You are not my client in any specific accounting or tax matter.  Your situation may better benefit if you hire a professional for an analysis of your specific details.   My free advice is worth what you pay for it.

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Everyone else has answered the rest of the questions beautifully, but here’s my two cents worth in one area I have some extra knowledge about. <snip It says this charge is "to boost reserves".  What reserves?  Where are reserves reported and what are they for? I’m not sure about that as the term "reserves" is not supposed to be used in financial statements.  I would guess it would simply show up as increased equity on the books of the subsidiary company.

Insurance company reserves are assets to cover future claims.  There are complex regulations about what percentage of total coverage of policies currently in force _must_ be kept, and more talking about levels that are more prudent. Reserves are one of the factors weighted very strongly by the insurance rating agencies (AM Best and the like).  Higher reserves = more stability and less risk of the company failing if claims are higher than expected. Catherine – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –

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I’m not sure about that as the term "reserves" is not supposed to be used in financial statements.  I would guess it would simply show up as increased equity on the books of the subsidiary company. Insurance company reserves are assets to cover future claims.  There are complex regulations about what percentage of total coverage of policies currently in force _must_ be kept, and more talking about levels that are more prudent. Reserves are one of the factors weighted very strongly by the insurance rating agencies (AM Best and the like).  Higher reserves = more stability and less risk of the company failing if claims are higher than expected.

Ah, yes. I wasn’t considering the insurance industry aspect of it.  I was going by strictly GAAP. — Todd Stephens

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below is a snippet of an article I was reading.  i am trying to understand exactly what it means.  i have no accounting education i am just starting to teach myself. <ARTICLE SNIPPET On Nov. 21, General Electric (GE, news, msgs) said that it plans to take a charge of about $1.4 billion to boost reserves at GE Employers Reinsurance. Wall Street had been expecting the news and had pegged the charge at $1 billion to $2 billion. The consensus among analysts who follow the company is that the move is part of an effort to dress up the insurance unit to attract buyers. In addition, they speculate that a sale of the Employers Reinsurance could be just the first step in a larger restructuring of General Electric by its new CEO, Jeffrey Immelt. </ARTICLE SNIPPET Questions: It says in the snippet that GE will "take a charge of about 1.4 billion". What are they charging?  Does this charge impact the balance sheet or income statement? It says this charge is "to boost reserves".  What reserves?  Where are reserves reported and what are they for? And finally how, as the article states, does this "dress up the insurance unit to attract buyers"?  Is GE transfering capital to this Insurance unit to make a potential purchase more attractive? Thank you.

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Question:

Since January 1st is a holiday, then it is normal for a business to pay employees on the last workday before the holiday.  Same is true if the pay day fell on a weekend, then the employees would normally be paid on Friday before the weekend pay day. — Charles Little Chairman and Founder, PenSoft Payroll Software http://www.pensoft.com

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Our established pay dates are the 1st and 16th of every month.  I was expecting my most recent paycheck to be dated January 1 and to also take into account all of the new tax provisions. Instead, my check was dated December 31 and all of last year’s tax provisions were used.  When I asked why our pay date was changed, I was told by HR that it was money earned last year so it had to be paid last year.  Also, that our CFO had maxed out his Social Security requirements for last year and if we would have been paid the 1st, he would have had to start paying into Social Security again.  I thought that was the law?  I’ve been paid weekly in previous jobs and don’t remember ever receiving a special check on Dec. 31 to make sure I was paid in the right year. I also thought that since taxes were decreased, it would be better to be paid in 2002 than 2001 anyway. Is it OK for my company to arbitrarily change our pay date to get out of paying taxes? Thanks, K.G.

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I would have to do a test payroll but I thought you were taxed according to the pay period and not the check date.

If you are a cash basis taxpayer, you are taxed in the year you recieve the cash or have constructive receipt of the cash. easy2000

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Our established pay dates are the 1st and 16th of every month.  I was expecting my most recent paycheck to be dated January 1 and to also take into account all of the new tax provisions. Instead, my check was dated December 31 and all of last year’s tax provisions were used.  When I asked why our pay date was changed, I was told by HR that it was money earned last year so it had to be paid last year.  Also, that our CFO had maxed out his Social Security requirements for last year and if we would have been paid the 1st, he would have had to start paying into Social Security again.  I thought that was the law?  I’ve been paid weekly in previous jobs and don’t remember ever receiving a special check on Dec. 31 to make sure I was paid in the right year. I also thought that since taxes were decreased, it would be better to be paid in 2002 than 2001 anyway.

The tax brackets dropped only 1%.  Saving 6.2% (the SS tax rate) is just slightly higher than 1%. Is it OK for my company to arbitrarily change our pay date to get out of paying taxes?

Yeah.  In fact it’s the American way.  The IRS won’t care, and unless you are under union contract, neither will anyone else. I am assuming that you did receive the paycheck on December 31? — Paul A. Thomas, CPA Athens,  Georgia http://www.pat-cpa.com

Response:

Since January 1st is a holiday, then it is normal for a business to pay employees on the last workday before the holiday.  Same is true if the pay day fell on a weekend, then the employees would normally be paid on Friday before the weekend pay day.

Really?  I paid my employees on the 2nd instead of the 1st. "Normal" varies I guess. — Paul A. Thomas, CPA Athens,  Georgia http://www.pat-cpa.com

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Be thankful that you have a paying job.  There are millions who would love to have a paycheck and wouldn’t  be fussy about what date was on it so long as the could cash it. Count your blessings! Peter

Response:

Our established pay dates are the 1st and 16th of every month.  I was expecting my most recent paycheck to be dated January 1 and to also take into account all of the new tax provisions. Instead, my check was dated December 31 and all of last year’s tax provisions were used.  When I asked why our pay date was changed, I was told by HR that it was money earned last year so it had to be paid last year.  Also, that our CFO had maxed out his Social Security requirements for last year and if we would have been paid the 1st, he would have had to start paying into Social Security again.  I thought that was the law?  I’ve been paid weekly in previous jobs and don’t remember ever receiving a special check on Dec. 31 to make sure I was paid in the right year. I also thought that since taxes were decreased, it would be better to be paid in 2002 than 2001 anyway. Is it OK for my company to arbitrarily change our pay date to get out of paying taxes? Thanks, K.G.

Response:

The reasons that you were given sound like BS. First off, payroll for the 31st could have been calculated and paid to the CFO only. It did not have to include all employees. Second if the company wanted to match expenses with their income they can easily accrue wages earned up until the 31st, unless they are on the cash basis of accounting which seems unlikely. The bottom line is that life is too short to sweat the small stuff. I wouldn’t make it an issue at work, you can’t win. The company certainly didn’t break any laws and can pay you early if they want to.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Our established pay dates are the 1st and 16th of every month.  I was expecting my most recent paycheck to be dated January 1 and to also take into account all of the new tax provisions. Instead, my check was dated December 31 and all of last year’s tax provisions were used.  When I asked why our pay date was changed, I was told by HR that it was money earned last year so it had to be paid last year.  Also, that our CFO had maxed out his Social Security requirements for last year and if we would have been paid the 1st, he would have had to start paying into Social Security again.  I thought that was the law?  I’ve been paid weekly in previous jobs and don’t remember ever receiving a special check on Dec. 31 to make sure I was paid in the right year. I also thought that since taxes were decreased, it would be better to be paid in 2002 than 2001 anyway. Is it OK for my company to arbitrarily change our pay date to get out of paying taxes? Thanks, K.G.

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Question:

If you use a FBO, Flight School, Club with a dispatching system, what’s your experience like?  I’m talking about a person behind the counter who handles scheduling and doles out keys.  Do you find it inconvenient?  Is there often a long line?  What are the pros and cons? begin 666 Eric Archer.vcf M0D5′24XZ5D-!4D0-"E9%4E-)3TXZ,BXQ#0I..D%R8VAE<CM%<FEC#0I&3CI% M4V%N($1I96=O+"!#02 Y,C S. T*14U!24P[4%)%1CM)3E1%4DY%5#I%<FEC &0T%21 T* ` end

Response:

If you use a FBO, Flight School, Club with a dispatching system, what’s your experience like?  I’m talking about a person behind the counter who handles

Hmm, I for all have never seen an FBO without a dispatch desk, and ours has some of the most beautful ladies working it. That alone keeps guys coming back — — HECTOP   PP-ASEL/BOFH   http://www.maxho.com   maxho_at_maxho.com  

Response:

Well, that would certainly keep me hanging around the counter. I guess I’ve never really dealt with flying from an FBO… all of my experience has been with clubs with individual, book-based scheduling.  It seems to me that a dispatch desk could cause a bit of a logjam on a sunny day and a lot of people want to fly.  Do they check your currency status everytime you checkout a plane?

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If you use a FBO, Flight School, Club with a dispatching system, what’s your experience like?  I’m talking about a person behind the counter who handles Hmm, I for all have never seen an FBO without a dispatch desk, and ours has some of the most beautful ladies working it. That alone keeps guys coming back

Response:

seems to me that a dispatch desk could cause a bit of a logjam on a sunny day and a lot of people want to fly.  Do they check your currency status everytime you checkout a plane?

What we have is a computer program (I think) it’s called FBO Tracker or some such, which actually handles all the currency/checkouts data that is entered whenever a new person is added, it keeps track of medicals, (I’m not sure if IR currency included) dates of check outs, etc etc. Ours is one of the more sophisticated set ups, many other places have just an "accounting" program customized to just check pilots in and out. But if your club (for example) is looking for one and you have a member that’s an MS Access programmer (or you can hire one) they can write you a quick hack of an MS Access based FBO runner, it’s not really all that complicated when you know what features you need. — HECTOP PP-ASEL/BOFH http://www.maxho.com maxho_at_maxho.com

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But if your club (for example) is looking for one and you have a member that’s an MS Access programmer (or you can hire one) they can write you a quick hack of an MS Access based FBO runner, it’s not really all that complicated when you know what features you need.

And get them to put it on the web so that people can reserve aircraft from home before they take the long drive out to the airfield just to find no planes!  Members could also query their currency on type etc… the web is a powerful tool.. use it. Phil.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – seems to me that a dispatch desk could cause a bit of a logjam on a sunny day and a lot of people want to fly.  Do they check your currency status everytime you checkout a plane? What we have is a computer program (I think) it’s called FBO Tracker or some such, which actually handles all the currency/checkouts data that is entered whenever a new person is added, it keeps track of medicals, (I’m not sure if IR currency included) dates of check outs, etc etc. Ours is one of the more sophisticated set ups, many other places have just an "accounting" program customized to just check pilots in and out. But if your club (for example) is looking for one and you have a member that’s an MS Access programmer (or you can hire one) they can write you a quick hack of an MS Access based FBO runner, it’s not really all that complicated when you know what features you need. — HECTOP PP-ASEL/BOFH http://www.maxho.com maxho_at_maxho.com

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I am a contract bookkeeper looking to build a close-knit client base.  This is a small business aspiring to provide highly accurate financial records for other small businesses. How would you like to dramatically improve your recordkeeping?  To know how much money have available on a weekly basis.  To have the accounts payable paid each week.  To have the accounts receivable kept up-to-date each week. I am thoroughly trained in accounting/bookkeeping.  You don

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If you are a service based company and tracking of time and expenses is your key concern, SAGE Software may just have the ticket you are looking for in their Acuity Financials product offering. (Acuity Projects module) May I suggest that you call their toll free number, 1.800.854.3415, follow the prompts and talk to one of their sales staff. They would be happy to answer your questions, send you information, and arrange for a local representative near you to discuss your particular situation. Regards, Barry Rice Senior Product Specialist – SAGE Software, Inc. * Sent from AltaVista http://www.altavista.com Where you can also find related Web Pages, Images, Audios, Videos, News, and Shopping.  Smart is Beautiful

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in biz.comp.accounting: If you are a service based company and tracking of time and expenses is your key concern, SAGE Software may just have the ticket you are looking for in their Acuity Financials product offering. (Acuity Projects module)

That is, if you have a spare $50,000 to buy the program and an extra $50,000++ to install and maintain it. Funny, Sage also has Timeslips, which has 1/3 of the CPAs (including me for 6 years) and a larger percentage of the lawyers. It costs $150 to about $2,500, depending on users. mike block May I suggest that you call their toll free number, 1.800.854.3415, follow the prompts and talk to one of their sales staff. They would be happy to answer your questions, send you information, and arrange for a local representative near you to discuss your particular situation. Regards, Barry Rice Senior Product Specialist – SAGE Software, Inc. * Sent from AltaVista http://www.altavista.com Where you can also find related Web Pages, Images, Audios, Videos, News, and Shopping.  Smart is Beautiful

  Mike Block, Tax Fighting C.P.A.              World’s #1 QuickBooks Top Tester 450+ page QB book/free updates $10 QB add-ons http://www.blocktax.com/       Ft Lauderdale FL 954-566-7540

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You need to set yourself up as a vendor and create an invoice for the receipts and distribute the expenses as needed.  Then cut yourself a check. DeeDee Heyne D.B.H. ENTERPRISES – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi.  What is the best way to enter receipts in Peachtree.  More specifically, everyday receipts you get for purchases, meals, gas, tolls, etc.  PLEASE HELP!! I’ve got 3 months of receipts to enter and I’m falling more and more behind.

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Hi.  What is the best way to enter receipts in Peachtree.  More specifically, everyday receipts you get for purchases, meals, gas, tolls, etc.  PLEASE HELP!! I’ve got 3 months of receipts to enter and I’m falling more and more behind.

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Hi.  What is the best way to enter receipts in Peachtree.  More specifically, everyday receipts you get for purchases, meals, gas, tolls, etc.  PLEASE HELP!! I’ve got 3 months of receipts to enter and I’m falling more and more behind.

FIRST of all–I don’t think you are talking about receipts–not the accounting term anyway. Just because you obtain a receipt for a purchase you may have made does not mean that this is a receipt in Peachtree.  A receipt in peachtree is ie:  someone paid on their account.  In otherwords–a receipt is when YOU receive money. If you have PURCHASED items–you enter that in the purchases journal. How do you know when it’s time to tune your bagpipes?!?

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From _The Journal of Historical Review_, Vol. 11, Number 2 (Summer 1991):                           A Brief Introduction                         to Holocaust Revisionism                              ARTHUR R. BUTZ      Dr. Arthur R. Butz is an associate professor of electrical engineering at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.  He is also the author of a major Revisionist study of the alleged Holocaust, _The Hoax of the Twentieth Century_, as well as a member of the IHR _Journal_’s editorial advisory committee.  Earlier this year, as Revisionist attempts to spark open debate on the Holocaust ignited controversy at Northwestern, Butz once again found himself in the center of the storm.  (For more on this, including the key role played by IHR media project director Bradley Smith, see the May and July 1991 issues of the _IHR Newsletter_.)  At the height of the controversy, Butz presented his view of the Holocaust story in a succinct essay that appeared in the school paper, _The Daily Northwestern_, May 13, 1991, under the title "A Short Introduction to the Study of Holocaust Revisionism."  Here is the complete text of his piece, which includes a correction of an error that appeared in the Daily Northwestern version: I see three principal reasons for the widespread but erroneous belief in the legend of millions of Jews killed by the Germans during World War II: U.S. and British troops found horrible piles of corpses in the West German camps they captured in 1945 (e.g. Dachau and Belsen); there are no longer large communities of Jews in Poland; and historians generally support the legend.      During both world wars, Germany was forced to fight typhus, carried by lice in the constant traffic with the East.  That is why all accounts of entry into the German concentration camps speak of shaving of hair and showering and other delousing procedures, such as treatment of quarters with the pesticide Zyklon.  That was also the main reason for a high death rate in the camps, and for the crematoria that existed in all.      When Germany collapsed in chaos, then of course all such defenses ceased, and typhus and other diseases became rampant in the camps, which quartered mainly political prisoners, ordinary criminals, homosexuals, conscientious objectors and Jews conscripted for labor.  Hence the horrible scenes, which however had nothing to do with "extermination" or any deliberate policy.  Moreover, the West German camps involved were not the alleged "extermination camps," which were all in Poland (e.g. Auschwitz and Treblinka) and which were all evacuated or shut down before capture by the Soviets, who found no such scenes.      The "Final Solution" spoken of in the German documents was a program of evacuation, resettlement and deportation of Jews with the ultimate objective of expulsion from Europe.  During the war Jews of various nationalities were being moved east, as one stage in this Final Solution. The legend claims that the motion was mainly for extermination purposes.      The great majority of the millions allegedly exterminated were East European – not German or West European – Jews.  For that reason study of the problem via population statistics has been difficult to impossible, but it is a fact that there are no longer large communities of Jews in Poland. However, the Germans were only one of several parties involved in moving Jews around.  The Soviets deported virtually all of the Jews of eastern Poland to their interior in 1940.  After the war, with Polish and other Jews pouring out of the East into occupied West Germany, the Zionists moved large numbers to Palestine, and the United States and other countries absorbed many Jews, in most cases under conditions making impossible a numerical accounting.  Moreover, the Polish borders were changed drastically at the end of the war; the country was literally moved west.      Historians generally support the legend, but there are precedents for nearly incomprehensible blindness on the part of scholars.  For example, throughout the Middle Ages even the Pope’s political enemies conceded his false claim that the 4th century Emperor Constantine had ceded rule of the west to the Pope, although all knew very well that Constantine had been succeeded by more emperors.  Near unanimity among the academics is especially suspect when there exist great political pressures; in some countries, Holocaust Revisionists have been prosecuted.      It is easy to show that the extermination legend merits skepticism. Even the casual reader of the Holocaust literature knows that during the war virtually nobody acted as though it were happening.  Thus it is common to berate the Vatican, the Red Cross and the Allies (especially the intelligence agencies) for their ignorance and inaction, and to explain that the Jews generally did not resist deportation because they did not know what was in store for them.  If you add all this up you have the strange claim that for almost three years German trains, operating on a continental scale in densely civilized regions of Europe, were regularly and systematically moving millions of Jews to their deaths, and nobody noticed except for a few of our Jewish leaders who were making public "extermination" claims.      On closer examination even those few Jewish leaders were not acting as though it were happening.  Ordinary communications between the occupied and neutral countries were open, and they were in contact with the Jews whom the Germans were deporting, who thus could not have been in ignorance of "extermination" if those claims had any validity.      This incredible ignorance must also be attributed to Hans Oster’s department in German military intelligence, correctly labeled "the veritable general staff of the opposition to Hitler" in a recent review.      What we are offered in evidence was gathered after the war, in trials. The evidence is almost all oral testimony and "confessions."  Without the evidence of these trials there would be no significant evidence of "extermination."  One must pause and ponder this carefully.  Were trials needed to determine that the Battle of Waterloo happened?  The bombings of Hamburg, Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki?  The slaughter in Cambodia?  Yet this three-year program, of continental scope, claiming millions of victims, requires trials to argue its reality.  I am not arguing that the trials were illegal or unfair; I am arguing that such historical logic as the legend rests on must not be countenanced.  Such events cannot happen without generating commensurate and contemporaneous evidence for their reality, just as a great forest fire cannot take place without producing smoke.  One may as well believe that New York City was burned down, if confessions to the deed can be produced.      Detailed consideration of the specific evidence put forward in support of the legend has been a focus of the Revisionist literature and cannot be undertaken here, but I shall mention one point.  The claim of the legend is that there were no technical means provided for the specific task of extermination, and that means originally provided for other purposes did double duty in improvised arrangements.  Thus the Jews were allegedly gassed with the pesticide Zyklon, and their corpses disappeared into the crematoria along with the deaths from "ordinary" causes (the ashes or other remains of millions of victims never having been found).  Surely any thoughtful person must be skeptical. [end of article] [Reprinted by permission from _The Journal of Historical Review_, P.O. Box 1306, Torrance, CA 90505, USA.  Subscription rate: $40 per year, domestic. $50 per year, foreign.]      This article was scanned by the System Operator of the "Banished CPU" computer bulletin board system, which is located in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.                     Banished CPU supports Freedom of Speech!          |                                                           |          |  For 300-9600 bps (3 lines w/V.32) call:  (503) 232-5783  |          |  For 14400 bps (2 lines w/V.32bis) call:  (503) 232-6566  |                         Sysop: Maynard "the Main Nerd" [end of file] -Dan Gannon — Public Access UNIX and Internet at (503) 220-0636 (1200/2400, N81)

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he is a brainless parrot with no mind of his own by reprinting yet another distortion on orders from his masters:         From _The Journal of Historical Review_,         Vol. 11, Number 2 (Summer 1991):         A Brief Introduction to Holocaust Revisionism         ARTHUR R. BUTZ         Dr. Arthur R. Butz is an associate professor of electrical         engineering at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.         He is also the author of a major Revisionist study of the         alleged Holocaust, _The Hoax of the Twentieth Century_, as         well as a member of the IHR _Journal_’s editorial advisory         committee. It is too bad that Dr. Butz did not contribute anything to further knowledge in the field that he is supposed to know something about, electrical engineering, before making a total ass of himself with speculations into a field he knows absolutely nothing about–history.         During both world wars, Germany was forced to fight typhus…         That was also the main reason for a high death rate in the         camps, and for the crematoria that existed in all.         When Germany collapsed in chaos… typhus and other diseases         became rampant in the camps, which quartered mainly political         prisoners, ordinary criminals, homosexuals, conscientious         objectors and Jews conscripted for labor. Dr. Butz neglects to explain how it was that the guards at these camps, who were in constant contact with the prisoners, managed to avoid contracting any of these rampant diseases.  Nor does he explain why Jewish women and children, elderly and infirm were "conscripted for labor."         …the West German camps involved were not the alleged         "extermination camps," which were all in Poland (e.g. Auschwitz         and Treblinka) and which were all evacuated or shut down before         capture by the Soviets, who found no such scenes. As Dr. Butz himself states, the camps "were all evacuated or shut down before capture," yet he emphasizes the fact that the Soviets found "no such scenes!"  How strange that a camp should not continue to operate after it has been shut down!         The great majority of the millions allegedly exterminated         were East European – not German or West European – Jews.         For that reason study of the problem via population statistics         has been difficult to impossible… Nevertheless, German and West European Jews were deported to the east. But, Dr. Butz does not mention any study of "population statistics" related to these Jews, instead shifting attention to East European Jews with a bit of verbal sleight-of-hand.         Historians generally support the legend, but there are         precedents for nearly incomprehensible blindness on the part of         scholars.  For example, throughout the Middle Ages even the         Pope’s political enemies conceded his false claim that the 4th         century Emperor Constantine had ceded rule of the west to the         Pope, although all knew very well that Constantine had been         succeeded by more emperors. "There are precedents," Dr. Butz declares, yet he must reach back into the Middle Ages to find one!  To his medieval mind historical scholarship has not advanced beyond the fourth century.  Moreover, he fails to name the "pope" who is suppressing the truth of the Holocaust, or the basis for his extraordinary power over today’s secular scholars!         What we are offered in evidence was gathered after the war,         in trials.  The evidence is almost all oral testimony and         "confessions."  Without the evidence of these trials there         would be no significant evidence of "extermination." Here Dr. Butz truly displays his inadequacies as a would-be historian. He objects to evidence that has been collected from eye witnesses to historical events purely because some of it was used in war crimes prosecution.  By focusing on "trials" and "evidence" he ignores the fact that there are no historical events known to us today that we have not learned from the reports of eye witnesses and historians who reported them and transmitted them to us in their writings.         One must pause and ponder this carefully.  Were trials         needed to determine that the Battle of Waterloo happened?         The bombings of Hamburg, Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki?         The slaughter in Cambodia?  Yet this three-year program,         of continental scope, claiming millions of victims, requires         trials to argue its reality. The trials were necessary to convict Nazi criminals of their war crimes, not to establish the truth of the Holocaust.  Nevertheless, the facts regarding the Holocaust, like any other historical event, whether of major or minor proportions, can only be established through the testimony of witnesses. Did Dr. Butz himself witness the Battle of Waterloo or does he depend on the testimony of witnesses long dead?  Does the fact that the Battle of Waterloo was not used at a trial to condemn Napolean mean that somehow it was not reported to the rest of the world by witnesses to the actual event?  Dr. Butz seems to think that great world events are somehow transmitted to the rest of the world and to future generations by means of osmosis! And osmosis must be the way that Dr. Butz learned of all the true intentions of the Nazis, as he never gives a single reference or citation for any of the many claims he makes throughout this diatribe. He discounts the evidence of eye witnesses, and calls the Holocaust a "legend," yet offers no proof for the theory that the death camp victims were struck down by typhus.  Where is the evidence for it? To use his own arguments, how could an epidemic of such monumental proportions occur in the death camps without a single person in the outside world knowing about it? Harry Katz

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – From _The Journal of Historical Review_, Vol. 11, Number 2 (Summer 1991):                          A Brief Introduction                        to Holocaust Revisionism                             ARTHUR R. BUTZ     Dr. Arthur R. Butz is an associate professor of electrical engineering at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.  He is also the author of a major Revisionist study of the alleged Holocaust, _The Hoax of the Twentieth Century_…

I’m just wondering how a professor of electrical engineering becomes an expert holocaust revisionist?  It seems to me that there is a wide gap in logic…                                                 SAM

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# From _The Journal of Historical Review_, Vol. 11, Number 2 (Summer 1991): A journal founded by the leading racist, antisemite and neo_Nazi in the US; a journal whose editor hails Hitler, and says he was the "most philosophical figure of the century". And the associate editor says he was "a great man, the greatest leader of the century, and just what Germany needed". #                           A Brief Introduction #                         to Holocaust Revisionism The best brief introduction to "Holocaust revisionism" was given by one of Gannon’s cronies on B-CPU, who wrote "six million alleged dead kikes would stink more than that". A crude statement perhaps, but it embodies the whole intellectual and emotional world of "Holocaust revisionism". [A load of vague, unsubstantiated claims and outright lies deleted]. # and that means originally provided for other purposes did # double duty in improvised arrangements.  Thus the Jews were allegedly # gassed with the pesticide Zyklon, Zyklon-B releases HCN, which is such a poisonous gas it is used up to this day in execution gas chambers in the US. It was a cheap and convenient means of killing great numbers of people. # and their corpses disappeared into the # crematoria along with the deaths from "ordinary" causes So what? What’s the problem of using the same furnaces to cremate people who died from different reasons? Just what kind of idiots are we dealing with here? # (the ashes or other # remains of millions of victims never having been found).  Surely any # thoughtful person must be skeptical. A lot of the ashes were actually found (in Maidanek, Sobibor, and elsewhere there are huge piles of ash). However, most of it was buried, dumped into swamps and rivers etc. -Danny Keren.

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