Jason Pomerantz Stuff

Via Boing Boing:

Can I still write off a child as a deduction if they've been kidnapped?

According to the IRS website, the answer is "yes," if two conditions are met:

1. The child must be presumed by law enforcement to have been kidnapped by someone who is not a member of your family or a member of the child's family, and

2. The child had, for the taxable year in which the kidnapping occurred, the same principal place of abode as the taxpayer for more than one-half of the portion of such year before the date of kidnapping.

It's good to know our government has planned for every contingency.

Misc, Politics, Society & Culture Tax status of kidnapped children

By far, the best explanation I’ve seen of the mess we find ourselves in.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Politics credit crisis animation

Don’t worry, he really is the president now!

(Obama and Roberts messing up the oath strikes me as the second worst muffed line in history.  The award for the worst still has to go to Neil Armstrong…)

Politics muffed lines

With one day left of the George W. Bush era, the obvious question presents itself…  Is he the worst president ever?

In my opinion, he just gets the bronze medal.  He’s the third worst.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s been a gigantic disaster of almost unimaginable proportions.  Fiscally, the debt he’s generated is unparalleled in peacetime.  Internationally, he’s dragged our reputation from sky-high to sewer-low.  Morally, he’s stained us forever by institutionalizing torture.  There’s no question that he’s been reckless, irresponsible and… in some ways most awful of all…  massively incompetent.

Nonetheless, in our short history as a nation, there have been two leaders even worse.

Number two is a choice that many will find surprising:  John Adams (1797-1801).  Adams was a patriot and a critical revolutionary leader, instrumental to the birth of the republic.  But his presidency was marred by the Alien and Sedition Acts, legislation that was so horrendous it almost killed everything important about the country, in it’s infancy.  At a time when American democracy was weak and vulnerable, the Acts gave the federal government the power to jail its critics.  Had they not been immediately repealed, the First Amendment would have been gutted and our most important freedoms squashed.  America and the world would have been far darker.  Historians make many excuses for Adams:  He was forced to sign the Acts by his party, he was trying to avoid war with France, the country really was at risk of civil war.  But Adams had a responsibility to nurture and protect the fledgling Constitution.  He failed in the most fundamental way and that can never be forgiven.

My choice for number one is much more orthodox:  James Buchanan (1857-1861).  He tops almost every list!  He stood by while the South seceded, setting the stage for the bloody Civil War that killed more Americans than any other conflict and almost destroyed the nation.  It took the preternatural wisdom and strength of Lincoln (unquestionably our best president) to save it.

George W. Bush was a disaster…  But he wasn’t quite in that league!

Politics George W. Bush, James Buchanan, John Adams, Worst Presdients Ever

Prove: The Internet Caused The Iraq War

Statement 1: No internet, then no Drudge Repot.

Statement 2: No Drudge Report, then no Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Statement 3: No Monica Lewinsky scandal, then no G. W. Bush presidency.

Statement 4: No G. W. Bush presidency, then no Iraq war.

QED

Statement 1 is self-evident.

Statement 2 is the shakiest of the bunch.  Drudge broke the Lewinsky scandal, but I don’t know if it’s true that without him it wouldn’t have become known.  In the old days the press had a gentlemen’s agreement with the powers-that-be to keep certain things quiet.  No one reported on Roosevelt’s polio or JFK’s womanizing.   It seems like the same thing would have happened to Monica-gate if not for the widespread availability of a cowboy like Drudge.  But the cat might have been out of the bag, as far as media self-restraint goes, even without websites.

Statement 3 seems very likely to me.  Gore got more votes than Bush as it was.  If not for the Clinton scandals he would almost certainly have had enough to win a clear victory.

Statement  4 is self-evident.

Politics, Society & Culture, Tech Bush, Clinton, Drudge, Internet, Iraq, Lewinsky

I found this through Andrew Sullivan, who doesn’t know where it came from.

Politics bailout

Here's the answer.

Bush's crimes are far greater than Nixon's - because war crimes are far graver than burglaries. And there is no statute of limitations for war crimes.

Politics

Nixon or Bush?

I love the bit at the bottom:

When was the last time that the Republicans won a presidential election without either Nixon or a Bush somewhere on the national ticket?

1928.

Politics