Today something arrived in the mail that filled me with dread: an envelope with the Ohio Department of Taxation logo in the return address.
The past several years I’ve been coughing up $70 for a fancy edition of TurboTax, but that’s hardly protection from the tax code’s – and my own – obtuseness. So I opened the envelope thinking, “what did I screw up, and what’s it gonna cost me?”
What I screwed up is… nothing. The third page of a packet beginning with “WE HAVE RECALCULATED YOUR 2010 OHIO INCOME TAX RETURN” lists several dozen line items from my return – in an AS REPORTED column and an AS CORRECTED column. I reported state income tax withheld directly from my W2, to the tune of more than $1,100. The Ohio Department of Taxation helpfully corrected this number – to $0.00.
Good one, desk jockeys. The copy of my W2 that I sent with my 1040 was somehow insufficient, so you’re sending me a “correction” two months later? In the form of a bill for more than $1,100, because apparently my state taxes weren’t withheld by The Ohio State University? I can’t believe this is the process; if you lost my W2, send me a documentation request. The outcome would be the same, minus the heavy circles I added around box 17 and your “correction!”
USA Today reported this afternoon that the color-coded Department of Homeland Security terror-alert system implemented after 9/11 will be phased out over the next three months:
The government will not abandon alerts completely. According to the Homeland Security briefing paper, the department may decide to issue specific warnings to local law enforcement agencies, airlines or businesses if it fears there is heightened risk of an attack. Or it could issue broader alerts through public announcements, it says.
Matt Hurley at Weapons of Mass Discussion is all over the TSA “get scanned or get groped” insanity, and has been hounding Ohio politicians for what (if anything) they plan to do about it.
Since the TSA loves Security Theater, I have a serious proposal: in every boarding area, a sign that in multiple languages reads “Each flight which departs this terminal is safeguarded by no less than one armed plainclothes agent. Attempts at violence will be met with appropriate force.” Factor in screening time saved, and I guarantee guards would be cheaper than these damnable scanners.
Update: See this Ricochet discussion about Israeli airport security. Questioning, bomb-sniffing dogs, metal detectors – yes to all three. Leave it to Washington bureaucrats to find the intersection of “most intrusive” and “least effective” when Israel has methods that actually work.
Like food? Like Star Wars? Does the idea of a Wookie Cookie sound too good to pass up? Well then I have found the product for you over at Powell’s Books, salivate away…
By way of IMAO, a new Parry Gripp video featuring animals doing funny things accompanied by a catchy jingle:
You’ve got to keep on keepin’ on,
get on that pig and hold on tii-iiiight!
This clip holds special significance for me because of the time I, like a baby monkey, rode backwards on a pig (for the whole story, act like you’re interested in dating me and I’m sure my sisters would provide details).
What’s that, you say you’ve never seen a Parry Gripp video? If you think sixty seconds of animal humor is worth getting a ridiculous song stuck in your head, look no further:
I finally got around to listening to a Ricochet podcast, which I’ve been seeing recommended around the webs for a month or so. Episode 5, recorded on Friday 02/26, features Rob Long, Peter Robinson, Mark Steyn, and Andrew Breitbart. They discuss – among other things – last week’s health summit, and humorless institutionalized leftism.
Ricochet’s a great listen if you’re into that sort of thing. It’s the perfect accompaniment to a game of Filler 2 on Kongregate.com! Or to a commute, if you have one of those Empee-three Players and a car that knows how to talk to it…
Because it looks like the Iranian mullahs will continue doing as they damn well please, because the Obama administration is infuriating beyond words in its dealings with terrorists, and because I can…
It’s time foooorr: Fun With the Ayatollah! Play dress-up with everyone’s favorite totalitarian representative of a violent political system masquerading as a religion!
Thursday, 06-23-11, 10:10:40pm 
Looks like they decided to reduce the number of levels on the chart. Makes sense, given how quickly 
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