Smells like dinner!

Killifer and the Impossibilities of the "Nanny Tax"

I have to admit I haven't been following the issues surrounding members and potential members of Obama's cabinet all that closely. I didn't even know who Nancy Killifer was or what the Chief Performance Officer was. But when I learned that she withdrew her name because she failed to pay enough payroll taxes for her nanny I became intrigued.

First, I did some research on Killifer and the position. As this Time article reveals, the woman is imminently qualified for this new position. Her profile on ZoomInfo.com, a site for potential head hunters, clearly reiterates the qualifications outlined in the Time article. Since the position of Chief Performance Officer is meant to streamline government efficiency, I think, given the little I've read about her, that Killifer was the right person for the job.

On to the Nanny Tax. A quick read of an article at Newsweek reveals the pitfalls of the Nanny Tax. This is, apparently, an impossible tax to calculate correctly, particularly for parents who choose to do it themselves rather than pay a payroll company a lot of money to do it for them. On one level, I think it is probably not a good idea for the average parent who hires a nanny to try to calculate this tax on her own. But then, I think about all the parents I know who use a nanny or a babysitter and end up paying them more than the minimum of $1,800 a year that these individuals can be paid without the employer having to pay payroll taxes. Sure, lots of these people pay their nannies in cash, which isn't traceable. But I know lots of moms who simply ignore this rule. And a lot more moms and dads who use babysitters and can't afford to pay their sitters a competitive wage AND pay payroll taxes.

I was employed by one such family the summer before I started working on my MA. The family paid me a base pay of $9 an hour to care for their 2 children a minimum of 40 hours a week; if I worked more than 40 hours, I was paid $15 an hour for any hours over 40. I typically worked 60 hours a week, so I was getting paid over $600 a week. Now, they paid me under the table, and they paid me so well because they wanted a college graduate who was certified in CPR to care for their children. But I also know that both parents rushed home every day from their jobs so that they wouldn't go over the 60 hours a week that I averaged--because they couldn't afford to pay me more. But given that I was employed for about 14 weeks, I clearly made more than the $1,800 I could legally make before they were supposed to pay payroll taxes on my income. These were not dishonest people by any stretch; they simply wanted to pay me a competitive wage because they wanted someone trustworthy, educated, and caring to look after their kids.

I think most parents are in a similar situation. They want to do the right thing by their employees, and often the right this is either paying the nanny more or complying with payroll tax laws. Now, clearly, Killifer can afford to pay these taxes, but nothing I've read indicated she didn' t pay these taxes. Rather, she just paid them incorrectly from time to time. It strikes me as incredibly unfair that a person who was highly qualified for a job had to withdraw herself from consideration for struggling to pay the correct amount of payroll taxes for her nanny. Let me emphasize that again: Killifer didn't fail to pay the taxes; she just didn't always get it right.

A Message on Inclusion, and One on Exclusion

Yesterday President Obama attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. While there, he spoke about his path to Christianity and the importance of faith in his family life. He then quoted passages from the Quran and the Torah to underscore a point about the universality of the "golden rule." He also spoke approvingly of Buddhists, Hindus, followers of Confucius, humanist, and agnostics. (When Bush spoke last year, he did not praise any of these groups.)

Dr. Frank S. Page, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention had these things to say after the breakfast:

--"[Obama] was not my first choice for president." We figured.

--About the Quran reference, "I would rather that had been left off." Of course.

So Mock Me if You Must

So I have new TV show that I've gotten interested in, particularly because of the last two episodes, Grey's Anatomy: a broken cock and anal pleasure gone wrong. Although all of these problems are inflicted upon men during sexual acts, I cannot help but think that we should be writing for this show as I'm sure we can one up them with a knob of butter.

Can I Still Call Myself a Man?

Weekly Address #2

Better late than never:

Seriously

This is not Rodney Stanger. 

WTF?.....

And  I have grading to do.... And Failblog.org is the best site i've seen in years. 

And Oxymoron, this one is for you. 

Wait for the mugshot....

You now have me hooked on FAIL Blog, Roof.

Wednesday Musical Tribute

Sick of Irony but don't want Sappiness either? Hit play below.

Maths and You

I try to avoid FailBlog - based posts because, once started, I may never stop.

However, this is for the teachers in the room. Especially in this room of people who will protest that they aren't "math-people."

I have .002 dollars that says that we all subvocalize a scream at the same moment, at the same line, at the same illogical defense.

Assy McGee Award®: Richland County, South Carolina Sheriff Leon Lott

By now everybody knows that Michael Phelps, winner of Eight Gold Medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was recently photographed smoking marijuana at a party that supposedly took place somewhere on the University of South Carolina Campus.

But now arrives this nonsense.

Michael Phelps could face criminal charges as part of the fallout from a photo of him inhaling from a marijuana pipe at a house party.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott told The State newspaper of Columbia, S.C., that he would file charges against Phelps if he determines the swimmer smoked marijuana in the county. The sheriff's office released a statement Tuesday saying it "is making an effort to determine if Mr. Phelps broke the law."

It really raises the question. Really. Do these people ever think about who and what they are and just feel overcome by a profound sense of embarrassment?

It could have been better....

Or worse, depending on your perspective.

If The Boss' bags were not enough, viewers in Arizona were treated to a real celebration after Larry Fitzgerald scored:

Seconds after Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald scored on a touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to put the birds in the lead, Tucson, Arizona based Comcast Cable subscribers expected an end-zone dance but received a money shot.

Officials at the cable provider’s headquarters explained that 30 seconds of full-frontal male pornography from Club Jenna, an adult cable television channel, were shown on the local Super Bowl telecast to families and children of all ages–a scarring that will surely confuse young boys into believing that every time Larry Fitzgerald scores, massive white cocks will be pulled out of jeans and tossed around like thundersticks at Los Angeles Lakers games

More from Bruce...

Forget Janet Jackson's nipple...

I just got teabagged by Bruce.

Britney Spears and Situational Rhetoric

Watching Bill O'Reilly last night, Harrogate learned about Britney's new song: "If You Seek Amy." Heh.

And a few Google searches since then shows that already, the song has the political Right screaming bloody murder. This is of course nothing compared to what is coming; it will not surprise Harrogate in the slightest if White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs winds up having to field questions about Spears' song.

Harrogate is no Libertarian, as ye all know, but he is enough of one to be a pure hater of the FCC--an organization which routinely winks at Media Consolidation but which remains angry at Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. Thus, it is not so much on the merits of artistry or cleverness, but rather due entirely to the Rhetorical Situation at hand, that Harrogate declares Spears' song positively delightful, and pledges to buy the record at the nearest possible opportunity.

Weekly Address #1

I thought it might behoove us to have Obama's weekly address posted to TRS each week. This one's a little late and I'm sure we've all seen it, but if anyone has thoughts, please share.



(Oh, and if I forget to do this every week, feel free to pick up my slack!)

The ($3.8 Million) Question of The Day

And is it a good one, with a few sub-questions.

Meet Natalie Dylan, as 22-year-old Women's Studies graduate (BA) who will soon begin an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy.

Natalie Dylan is a unique individual. Natalie is selling her virginity to pay for her MA and a few other things. Well, auctioning it really through the Bunny Ranch's website. The Moonlite Bunny Ranch, of course, is a legal and licensed brothel in Nevada and the "act" will take place there.

So, why Natalie she doing this (--besides paying for Graduate work). At The Daily Beast, Dylan writes:

Like most little girls, I was raised to believe that virginity is a sacred gift a woman should reserve for just the right man. But college taught me that this concept is just a tool to keep the status quo intact. Deflowering is historically oppressive—early European marriages began with a dowry, in which a father would sell his virginal daughter to the man whose family could offer the most agricultural wealth. Dads were basically their daughters’ pimps.

When I learned this, it became apparent to me that idealized virginity is just a tool to keep women in their place. But then I realized something else: if virginity is considered that valuable, what’s to stop me from benefiting from that? It is mine, after all. And the value of my chastity is one level on which men cannot compete with me. I decided to flip the equation, and turn my virginity into something that allows me to gain power and opportunity from men. I took the ancient notion that a woman’s virginity is priceless and used it as a vehicle for capitalism.

The questions:

(1) Is Dylan correct about the nature of virginity or is this just more academic banality or is she just another capitalist, um, I won't say it?

(2) If Dylan is correct, would you encourage your child to do this, knowing that is could make your child financially secure for the rest of her, or his, life?

(3) Is this comparable to pornography, which some scholars, such as Catherine MacKinnon, argue is just another violent and oppressive act against women or does Dylan possess agency and does her auction "transcend" the oppression?

Yet another reason why I like Obama

I didn't need any more reasons; I really like our new president a lot. He's thoughtful, he's intelligent, he's funny, and he's serious. A little over a week into his presidency, he hasn't backed down from any serious issues, and so far, I'm proud of everything he has done. Frankly, it is nice to say that again: I'm proud to be an American. There was a long, long time I couldn't way that at all.

Today President Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Equal Pay Act into law. While it doesn't do everything I want an equal pay act to do, it does make it infinitely easier for people to sue their employers on the basis of pay discrimination, effectively nullifying the previous Supreme Court ruling, which said employees had to sue employers within 180 days of a company's initial decision to pay an employee less than another. Obama seems to get what the Bush administration and event the Supreme Court didn't: this isn't only a gender issue. This is a family issue as pay discrimination makes it impossible for families to improve and to get ahead. Further, the bill is worded in such a way that employees can sue discrimination they suffered on the basis of gender, racial, religion, age, or nationality. This is a good day for America.

A Paradelle for Roof Almighty, Because Roof Once Indicated on Facebook That He Likes Paradelles

A lot of the scholarship on this poem, ranging from Collins' own words to a Wikipedia entry, suggests the poet was not being serious with this poem, but was rather Funning with Form. But hey. Make your own call.

"A Paradelle for Susan"

by Billy Collins

I remember the quick, nervous bird of your love.
I remember the quick, nervous bird of your love.
Always perched on the thinnest, highest branch.
Always perched on the thinnest, highest branch.
Thinnest love, remember the quick branch.
Always nervous, I perched on your highest bird the.
—
It is time for me to cross the mountain.
It is time for me to cross the mountain.
And find another shore to darken with my pain.
And find another shore to darken with my pain.
Another pain for me to darken the mountain.
And find the time, cross my shore, to with it is to.
—
The weather warm, the handwriting familiar.
The weather warm, the handwriting familiar.
Your letter flies from my hand into the waters below.
Your letter flies from my hand into the waters below.
The familiar waters below my warm hand.
Into handwriting your weather flies you letter the from the.
—
I always cross the highest letter, the thinnest bird.
Below the waters of my warm familiar pain,
Another hand to remember your handwriting.
The weather perched for me on the shore.
Quick, your nervous branch flew from love.
Darken the mountain, time and find was my into it was with to to.

Ashlee Simpson-Wentz makes an excellent point

This morning, as I was skimming the various news sites I keep up with, I counted no less than 3 stories about Jessica Simpson's alleged weight gain. Um, ok. I see images of Jessica Simpson everywhere, and frankly, she doesn't look like she's gained any weight to me. I am constantly miffed by the media's obsession with skinny women--as in emaciated women who look like they are about to pass out from lack of food. So, here's something I never thought I'd do: I'm vehemently agreeing with Ashlee Simpson-Wentz wrote on her blog about her sister's alledged weight gain. I wish everyone in Hollywood had as much sense about this particular issue.