Father Malachi Martin?
I used to watch him on CNN and listen to him on Coast to Coast.
RIP
A picture would be worth a thousand words. Can you take some photos of what you are describing and post them?Guest wrote: ↑Sun Feb 04, 2024 4:55 amMeanwhile in London...
The tube is filthy, London streets scruffy and crime ridden.
Two broken bottles remained on the steps down to Bakerloo Trafalgar Square tube station, for an entire day on Tuesday. Multiple people told tube staff who were chatting at a booth. The staff directed them to call Westminster Council. The glass was 20 feet away from them. And the escalators are never machine cleaned to bring out the metallic shine of the grooves as they do in the first world. Asked the station manager in relatively new Tottenham Court Road and she gave me a passive aggressive lecture about how her station’s escalators are regularly cleaned. It doesn’t take a Swiss person to see the grooves are never cleaned, and heavily soiled black.
aeden wrote: ↑Sun Feb 04, 2024 12:34 pminternals on thin ice
most here already parachuted out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q_NWllqWeQ
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the- ... wtab-en-usAs an expert on the U.S. tax system, I see America’s costly and time-consuming tax reporting system as a consequence of its relationship with the commercial tax preparation industry, which lobbies Congress to maintain the status quo.
A Costly and Time-Consuming System
Return-free filing is not difficult.
At least 30 countries permit return-free filing, including Denmark, Sweden, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Furthermore, 95% of American taxpayers receive at least one of more than 30 types of information returns that let the government know their exact income. These information returns give the government everything it needs to fill out most taxpayers’ returns.
The U.S. system is 10 times more expensive than tax systems in 36 other countries with robust economies. But those costs vanish in a return-free system, as would the 2.6 billion hours Americans spend on tax preparation each year.
Maybe you’re wondering whether Congress is just behind the times, unaware that it can release us from tax preparation? Not true.
Commercial Tax Preparation
About two decades ago, Congress directed the IRS to provide low-income taxpayers with free tax preparation. The agency responded in 2002 with “Free File,” a public-private partnership between the government and the tax-preparation industry. As part of the deal, the IRS agreed not to compete with the private sector in the free tax preparation market.
In 2007, the House of Representatives rejected legislation to provide free government tax preparation for all taxpayers. And in 2019, Congress tried to legally bar the IRS from ever providing free online tax preparation services.
Only a public outcry turned the tide.
The public part of Free File consists of the IRS herding taxpayers to commercial tax -preparation websites. The private part consists of those commercial entities diverting taxpayers toward costly alternatives.
According to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which oversees IRS activities, private partners use computer code to hide the free websites and take unsuspecting taxpayers to paid sites.
Should a taxpayer discover a free preparation alternative, the private preparers impose various restrictions such as income or the use of various forms as an excuse to kick taxpayers back to paid preparation.
Consequently, of the more than 100 million taxpayers eligible for free help, 35% end up paying for tax preparation and 60% never even visit the free websites. Instead of 70% of Americans receiving free tax preparation, commercial companies whittled that percentage down to 3%.
I wouldn't do that. CCTV would pick you up with facial recognition and you would be arrested for a hate crime.Higgenbotham wrote: ↑Sun Feb 04, 2024 12:45 pmA picture would be worth a thousand words. Can you take some photos of what you are describing and post them?Guest wrote: ↑Sun Feb 04, 2024 4:55 amMeanwhile in London...
The tube is filthy, London streets scruffy and crime ridden.
Two broken bottles remained on the steps down to Bakerloo Trafalgar Square tube station, for an entire day on Tuesday. Multiple people told tube staff who were chatting at a booth. The staff directed them to call Westminster Council. The glass was 20 feet away from them. And the escalators are never machine cleaned to bring out the metallic shine of the grooves as they do in the first world. Asked the station manager in relatively new Tottenham Court Road and she gave me a passive aggressive lecture about how her station’s escalators are regularly cleaned. It doesn’t take a Swiss person to see the grooves are never cleaned, and heavily soiled black.
I've been intending to document a similar situation and was prepared to take photos one day, but it was raining and the rain hid the filthy concrete. But it is coming very soon...
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