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POPSLooting your retirement fund to fix the economy It would be a very different story for the very wealthy.The top 20 percent of earners own more than 70 percent of IRA and 401(k) assets, and, for many of them, the McCain plan represents a terrific opportunity. They could access funds (which they contributed pre-tax in the first place) by paying only one-third the tax they normally would. Without rules to prohibit it, many could withdraw $50,000-a-year from their regular 401(k)s at 10 percent tax and immediately reinvest the funds into a Roth IRA, where all future earnings are tax-free. Others could find equally creative ways to move money around to take advantage of the low tax rate without adding a dime to savings. No doubt the economy is bad, but ruining the old age of millions of middle-class retirees while creating yet another tax boondoggle for the wealthy is no way to make it better.
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POPSCall It The New Math, Bill Ayers-Style. A tax cut for 95% of the people when only 60% pay taxes? It depends on what the meaning of 'tax cut' is. ... would be "refundable," which is Washington-speak for the fact that you can receive these checks even if you have no income-tax liability. In other words, they are an income transfer -- a federal check -- from taxpayers to nontaxpayers. Once upon a time we called this "welfare," or in George McGovern's 1972 campaign a "Demogrant." Mr. Obama's genius is to call it a tax cut. Hat tips: Fausta and Larwyn
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POPSI want my demogrant Taking mone from the most productive and giving it to the least productive. Well, jeesh! That should by him a few votes.
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POPSThe Fashion Chateau Clothes These looks are cool, sexy, creative...and very pricey. One can find the very same name brands and styles shopping at the Goodwill store for a fraction of the price.
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POPS7 Writing Habits of Amazing Writers This extremely prolific writer has won numerous awards, including the National Book Award. She writes in longhand, and while she doesn’t have a formal schedule, she says she prefers to write in the morning, before breakfast . She’s a creative writing professor, and on the days she teaches, she says she writes for an hour or 45 minutes before leaving for her first class. On other days, when the writing is going well, she can work for hours without a break — and has breakfast at 2 or 3 in the afternoon!
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POPSMy Million Dollar Year My Million Dollar Year is set up to share my journey on raising the initial funds for various creative projects in the span of one year. It's also much more than that. I'm sure we've all heard old expressions like "feeling like a million dollars." I've decided that this year, regardless of the financial success of this project, is going to be my "Million Dollar Year."
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POPSWhat's Up With Black Names, Anyway? The name Kizzy, which belonged to a "Roots" character, skyrocketed from oblivion to become the 17th most popular name for black girls in Illinois in 1977. Islam began in these years to have a clear influence, too, most visibly with Cassius Clay adopting the name Muhammad Ali in 1964. Others followed suit, including two fellows named Lew Alcindor and LeRoi Jones, whom you know as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Amiri Baraka. Around this time, an American boy named Barack Hussein Obama would be born. His given names, of Semitic origin, mean "blessed" and "good." Soon, out of these more political traditions grew a new one of creating names whose sounds the parents merely found pleasing. So the next time you are tempted to ridicule a name of any color -- black, white, red, celebrity, whatever -- it would be generous, and prudent, to do a bit of research.
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POPSFive questions for a galactic visitor The simple fact is that certain people have always opposed progress while other, better people have driven it. "Experts" decried boiled water as unhealthy compared the vital stuff straight from the river, cursed antibiotics as a temporary placebo, and confidently declared that computers were nothing but expensive toys. As an intelligent species we must make every effort to contact anyone or thing we can - and if you don't like it, there are some lovely caves you can move back to. what are your questions?
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POPSWhy is stiving for sustainability SO important? This piece has been extracted from the Interface Inc. website. Interface is the largest manufacturer of carpeting in the world. In the mid 90's, then CEO, Ray Anderson , had an epiphany... a spear through the chest, and started this multinational corporation down a new path!
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POPSWeb 2.0: Opening up, or dumbing down? The aggregated "wisdom of the crowd," epitomized by Google and Wikipedia, is rife with opinion, misinformation, and lies because Web 2.0 creates an "environment where anyone can say anything," Keen argued. And that's "a bad thing for the cultural producers, the creative class,"
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POPSHuman Species "May Split in Two" It's an old article, but a Biology professor of mine brought it to my class' attention today. Another interesting part that I wanted to clip: "But in the nearer future, humans will evolve in 1,000 years into giants between 6ft and 7ft tall, he predicts, while life-spans will have extended to 120 years, Dr Curry claims."
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POPSStudent Drawing of Cross censored in Wisconsin School Art should be judged for its artistic merit not its content if you ask me. I think the drawing is very well done. Not being an artist myself I appreciate those who have that ability. Forcing a student to draw subjects that may not be acceptable to them to me is a far worse offense then the student drawing a picture that MAY or may not offend someone else. Art like music is a creation of the artist and should therefore be considered in light of the artists perspective and not from the perspective of the audience. At least that is what the defenders of porn use as a defense when promoting pornography and other offensive works of art. They say it is CREATIVE LICENSE. Well then this young person has the creative license as well. IMO
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POPSQuality Domain & Hosting Services IndoUS Hosting believes in offering best possible services @ reasonable & affordable price. What you get with us is "satisfaction" and that is more important than being with a host who cant supply with what was originally promised. We guarantee solution to each of your problem within 24 hours. Whether you are looking for the most advanced features or just a friendly hosting experience, your satisfaction is our promise!
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POPSNeo Cons Warp the Meaning of Academic Freedom I was harassed by a neo-con student when I was a professor. She kept changing the subject from actual class material. The first day she talked about prayer in school (not a topic covered in this course), when I was trying to just go over the syllabus. Most frustrating, she had zero critical thinking skills, dominated the class, and angered the other students.
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POPSKids discover creative craft of sewing at summer program If you want your child to know how to cook, clean up after themselves and be self-reliant, learning the basics of sewing would be a great addition to their repertoire. This article may inspire others to share their talents with young people in their communities.
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POPSSchool Board Refuses to Act in Lee Case The life of Allen Lee still hangs in the balance as Community High School District 155 officials fail to take any action in the case of Allen Lee, the student accused of disorderly conduct for writing what his teacher and other school officials considered to be a disturbing paper in response to a "free" writing assignment. At no time has the school or the district taken appropriate action in this case. Before involving the police options like counseling, social service intervention, or simply making parents aware of the situation should have been taken. The more appropriate actions would, then, have never been news. No one would even know Allen Lee's name, which is as it should be. Had this young man been found to be a danger to himself or others then, and only then, should authorities be notified.
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