Archive for the 'beijing' Category

Very Special Olympics

Published
by
sprezzaturon
on Friday, 8 August 2008
in , beijing, china, olympics and politics
. 0 Comments

Ah, the 2008 Olympics starts today! Their motto, “Swifter, Higher, Stronger”, describes what athletics must do to win the gold. This phrase also happens to be a strategy in escaping from China as well. Oh sorry, let me start again …

When you think of the Olympics, you think of men and women moving with such energy and vigor that it makes me almost ashamed for getting winded when I take out the trash. For over 100 years, the summer Olympics have given us images of muscular athletics competing under bright, blue skies while deeply breathing fresh, clean air. So what better choice for a host city than smoggy Beijing. It’s one thing to level the playing field. It’s another to have the competitors laying level on the field in the midst of a hacking fit.

But the Olympics is about sportsmanship (and sportswomanship for those of you who like to get your knickers in a twist over such terms). Let everyone train to their very best potential and then let the best man and woman win. Does home field advantage matter? Probably not unless you get your visa revoked by the host government just before travel .

Of course, with all the millions of foreign visitors attending, security is very important. In fact, China has done an excellent job by bugging taxis, installing 300,000 surveillance cameras, and monitoring / restricting Internet usage. No point in allowing evidence of political oppression out, especially when everyone in the world already knows about it.**

So here’s my version of the 2008 Olympic symbol. What do you think?

my-beijing-olympic-symbol.jpg

**Of course, to be fair, 750 people out of 100,000 people in the USA are in prison verses 119 out of 100,000 in China. I guess strong-armed conformity works well in China verses arresting people for victimless crimes here in America.

How To Have the Government Pay You Money

Published
by
sprezzaturon
on Sunday, 27 January 2008
in beijing and pork spenders
. 2 Comments

… sort of. What happens when the government owes you your overpaid tax money and they don’t get it to you in a timely manner? No, your congressional representative does not send you flowers and a thank you note. Better yet, you’re entitled to interest on your money. According to the internal revenue service’s “Notice 746″, they are supposed to pay you interest at the same rate as they charge when you don’t surrender your money to them in a timely manner. The rate, compounded daily, varies from year-to-year. Over the past decade, it’s been between 4 and 8%. But what the rules say and what the irs does aren’t necessarily the same thing. Surprised?

Back in 2001, the irs made a slight mistake and took $12,000 more from me than they should have. Thank goodness, they are so conscientious about righting wrongs. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been fighting to get it back ever since. Oh what! Yes, I have! You would think that the interest on this financial faux pas would be a good chunk of change (almost $6,000 by my calculations). Instead, last month I finally received a check as an interest payment for … wait for it … almost $600. Yesterday, I received another letter from the IRS. But instead of another check for interest or the rest of the money they still owe me or a dinner invitation, they graciously had sent a 1099 form. In other words, they want me to declare the $600 as income so they can tax that as well. It’s as if they said, “Sorry about holding onto your money for so long and making it difficult to get back. But you know that pittance we sent to you last month? We want some of it back! Got to pay off that trillion dollar deficit somehow.”

You know, if I had put that $12,000 in a bank at 3% interest back in 2001, I would’ve earned over $2700 by now. In that case, I could understand the government wanting to take its cut of my money. Yet, how can they take money that they owed me to begin with? It’s not like I willingly gave the irs $12,000 to hold for me as an investment. (And I’ve made some bad investment decisions in the past.) So I don’t understand how the scenario is even possible. The worst part about all of this? I don’t really seem to have any recourse in this matter … unless somebody out there knows otherwise. Maybe I’ll get luck and they’ll put me on the “Jelly of the Month” club — this month’s flavor: KY.
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Yes, I know ‘irs’ is supposed to be capitalized. I tend to capitalize what I respect…

When Saying “Bad Dog” Just Doesn’t Get It

Published
by
sprezzaturon
on Sunday, 13 January 2008
in , beijing and gas prices
. 0 Comments

When the neighborhood’s pit bull attacks an innocent resident, the dog is put down relatively quick. We can’t have the safety of the neighborhood at risk now can we? Yet, when that vicious pit bull is a government agency, the neighborhood is pretty much left at risk. After all, your neighbors elected the representatives who ‘own’ that reckless animal. Such a dangerous creature must be the will of the people.

This is an update to a post I did almost a year ago about my dealing with that vicious of all pit bulls, the irs. I can’t believe that almost 12 months have passed since I finally had to ask for help from my Senator, Richard Burr, to get my money returned from the Federal government. You would think that proof of a $17,000 error in my favor would be quickly remedied. But not when the irs has a death grip on your money.

Now I realize that Senator Burr is only one person out of a gaggle of Congressional members. Since I haven’t had the pleasure of dealing with Senator Burr directly, I don’t know how he feels about his tax-taking agency. But I do know that he has great people on his staff to represent him. In the beginning, I dealt with a most wonderful woman of his office, Libby. Sadly, she passed away a few months ago after battling cancer. I regret that I didn’t have the opportunity to know her better. I will miss her pleasant voice and upbeat attitude. Her replacement, Garth, was a no-nonsense professional. Through Libby’s prior efforts and his work, I was able to deal with the Taxpayer Advocacy representative, Tammy. Thanks to them, the irs made a partial refund last month. At the same time, (for reasons that I didn’t pry into) Garth was replaced by another aide, Brandi. Hopefully, she’ll be able to finally straighten out this five year nightmare.

I could have done so many positive things had I received all my money back in 2003. I could have done many good things had I received my money last year. Still, I am thankful to Senator Burr’s office for getting this fiasco resolved as far as they have. But I think that the congressional ‘pit bull’ needs more than a swat on the nose for the wounds that it has inflicted. If we mess up, we get hit with interest and penalties at rates that make credit card companies envious. Conveniently, the government doesn’t worry about reciprocating for their errors. After all, they just be representin’ will of da peoples, dawg …. was that gangsta or gangster? At this point, I think that it is more of the latter…

12 Grand!

Published
by
sprezzaturon
on Saturday, 28 April 2007
in , , beijing, gas prices, government, government waste, olympics and pork spenders
. 0 Comments

Almost $12,000! At least that’s my estimate right now. I don’t know how I missed this, but yet it happened. My CPA was supposed to be taking care of this. But this time last year, I was finishing up a five-year divorce battle and a major down and dirty with the IRS. Somehow this detail got lost in the avalanche of events of this past year. That is until today.

To get my freedom from the wicked witch of the West, I had to over-pay the IRS. My CPA assured me that he would be able to get the money back and pay my 2005 tax bill. Here I am a year later. My CPA forgot or lost track or is incompetent — in any case, I never got my money back. The tax bill is waiting.

So in February I went to the bosses of the IRS — Congress. I wrote to my peeps: Richard Burr, Bob Etheridge, and Elizabeth Dole. Apparently, I matter to Ms. Dole only during election time because I haven’t heard a single word from her. On the other hand, Mr. Burr and Mr. Etheridge immediately answered my correspondence.

Today I received an interesting package from Senator Burr. It contained my tax account transcripts and a letter from the IRS to Senator Burr. The letter basically said they were sorry that they overcharged me but that they were within their rights to keep all the monies. So I spent the day going through the transcripts. Not only did I find where they did not credit a couple of my payments to them, but I also discovered that they mistakenly keyed in my 2001 return. I had brought this matter up to my CPA two years ago. He said that he would take care of it and I trust him to do so. If he did so, no one in the IRS took care of it. That in itself is a $12,000 error in my favor. I’ve also learned in this fight with the IRS that, not only can they charge you interest, but they also have to pay you interest on money they don’t refund in a timely manner. If they follow their own procedure, I will be a very happy man. Of course, if they had followed their own procedures to begin with, I would not have begun a battle with them 10 years ago. Oh well, you know the creed of tax collection agencies everywhere: “if we can bring one little smile to one little face today — then somebody slipped up somewhere.”

If you’ve ever wondered what happened to the bullies that terrorized you in school, rest assured. They’ve gone on to professional status. Some work for criminal organizations. And the rest try to legitimize their actions by working for government tax collection agencies. Thank goodness we live in a free society….