the "Headline That Caught My Attention or the WTF" thread

Probably not for next season; a certain Coach may have a partial reprieve.
Nope, Giants put the hammer down. I don't think the fans would like to revive the tradition of songs like "Good Night Allie"...

Giants Fire Coach Joe Judge​

The Giants on Tuesday became the latest N.F.L. team to change leadership after Judge posted a 10-23 record over two seasons.
 
Here we go, they're going to keep their paws on our $$ as long as they can...

Treasury warns of ‘enormous challenges’ this tax-filing season that could delay refunds​

Officials predict a number of services could be delayed because of issues related to the pandemic and budget constraints. The tax filing deadline this year is April 18.​


Treasury Department officials on Monday said that the Internal Revenue Service will face “enormous challenges” during this year’s tax filing season, warning of delays to refunds and other taxpayer services.

In a phone call with reporters, Treasury officials predicted a “frustrating season” for taxpayers and tax preparers as a result of delays caused by the pandemic, years of budget cuts to the IRS, and the federal stimulus measures that have added to the tax agency’s workload.

Typically, IRS officials enter filing season with an unaddressed backlog of roughly 1 million returns. This year, however, the IRS will enter the filing season facing “several times” that, Treasury officials said, although they declined to give a more precise estimate. The IRS website says that as of Dec. 23, 2021, it still had 6 million unprocessed individual returns, and as of the start of this month it still had more than 2 million unprocessed amended tax returns, a separate category.

The IRS closed last filing season with more than 35 million unprocessed returns — a fourfold increase from the last year before the pandemic. As the backlog increased, the IRS also failed to respond to the enormous increase in calls for assistance. Only 9 percent of calls were answered by an IRS customer service representative, while only 3 percent were answered for the 1040 support line for individual income tax returns, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate, a watchdog group.

The pandemic forced the closure of many in-person centers where paper forms are processed, while also affecting the IRS workforce. But even before the pandemic, budget cuts to the IRS forced through by Republicans had led to a roughly 25 percent decline in the size of its staff. And these challenges were exacerbated by the federal response to covid, which required the IRS to implement big new programs — from stimulus payments to the expanded Child Tax Credit — for tens of millions of families.

“By definition, no matter how much more efficient you are, you can’t lose 25 percent of the workforce and assume you can do the same volume of work. It’s a problem across the board — information technology; revenue agents; people answering the phones,” said John Koskinen, who served as commissioner of the IRS under presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

“The fact the filing season has gone so well over the last three years is an amazing tribute to the capacity of the workforce, but if you keep underfunding the place it’s not a question of whether it will have a major problem — it’s a question of when.”

Treasury officials said the tax filing deadline for 2021 income is Monday, April 18. Treasury officials said there are no current plans to extend that deadline this year, urging taxpayers to file as early as possible.
Treasury officials also urged taxpayers to file their returns online and create an account at IRS.gov.

The IRS budget has been significantly cut by roughly 20 percent over the last decade across all four of its major areas of operation — including tax enforcement, taxpayer services, and agency expenses for information technology, among other operational needs.

The decline in taxpayer enforcement has spurred a wave of concern about the ballooning “tax gap,” or the discrepancy between what taxpayers owe and what the agency collects. Nonpartisan estimates put the figure in the range of hundreds of billions of dollars every year. The Biden administration has pushed to beef up the IRS’s tax collection budget, hoping to spend $80 billion more on this area, in part because collecting that additional revenue will help it pay for other priorities.

Democratic lawmakers have also pushed to bolster the agency’s funding more broadly through the congressional appropriations process in a way that would offer more taxpayer services. Currently, the IRS budget is approximately $12 billion.

The House of Representatives approved a 14 percent increase to the agency’s budget as part of its budget proposal. But that effort is tied up in the Senate, and the federal government is on track to be funded at existing levels until February. Many Republicans oppose an expansion of the IRS’s budget.

Even if the IRS budget is increased, it would likely not be in time to allow the agency to hire for this filing season. As a result, the IRS heads into its busiest time of year with a workforce that is now the same size as it was in 1970 — even though the U.S. population has grown by 60 percent since that time, according to Treasury officials.

The agency also had fewer than 15,000 people tasked with handling more than 240 million calls, which translates into roughly 16,000 calls per employee. Treasury officials also said there are fewer auditors at the IRS that at any point since World War II.

Roughly 90 percent of taxpayers file their returns electronically, but about 10 percent still mail them in on paper — the category that causes the most delays. The National Taxpayer Advocate’s report from last year points out that many taxpayers filing printed returns would prefer to do so electronically but can’t, because taxpayers are required to submit statements or other forms that the agency does not process online.

Mark Everson, who served as the IRS commissioner during the George W. Bush administration, said “practitioners across the country are very concerned” about the IRS’ ability to handle the upcoming tax season.

“The service has done a good job getting relief payments and Child Tax Credits out the door, but it has a day job of processing tax returns. The filing season is always job one,” Everson said. “They went down early and hard from the pandemic and they’ve never really fully recovered. For both taxpayers and regular practitioners, the inability to get through on the phones is very frustrating.”
They held my 2020 refund for eight months, until this past September. I was mad as hell as I could have used that eleven dollars towards toilet paper or Purell !
 
This is an excellent "Come to Jesus" moment for higher education. They have priced themselves out of the market and for many young adults, getting an expensive, job market worthless BA in Art History, is just plain STUPID!!

Time for colleges and universities to implement some "course" corrections, pun intended.

Colleges enrolled 465,000 fewer students in the fall, a trend that is raising alarms​

pressherald.com/2022/01/13/colleges-enrolled-465000-fewer-students-in-the-fall-a-trend-that-is-raising-alarms/

By Danielle Douglas-Gabriel January 13, 2022

Student enrollment at colleges fell once again in the fall, a new report has found, prompting some to worry whether the declines experienced during the pandemic could become an enduring trend.

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center on Thursday said undergraduate enrollment in fall 2021 dropped 3.1 percent, or by 465,300 students, compared with a year earlier. The drop is similar to that of the previous fall, and contributes to a 6.6 percent decline in undergraduate enrollment since 2019.
That means more than 1 million students have gone missing from higher education in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Clearinghouse.

Even as campuses have largely reopened and returned to some semblance of normalcy, people are not pursuing credentials at the same rate as before. Experts worry that the unabating declines signal a shift in attitudes about higher education and could threaten the economic trajectory of a generation.

“The longer this continues, the more it starts to build its own momentum as a cultural shift and not just a short-term effect of the of the pandemic disruptions,” Doug Shapiro, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, said in an interview. “Students are questioning the value of college. They may be looking at friends who graduated last year or the year before who didn’t go and they seem to be doing fine. They’re working; their wages are up.”

Job openings are at near record highs, and the lure of what many economists say is a job seekers’ market may be siphoning off would-be students, especially adult learners. Indeed, one of the sharpest enrollment declines this fall was among people 24 and older, particularly at four-year colleges, according to Clearinghouse data.

The number of associate-degree-seeking students enrolled at four-year institutions plummeted in the fall, down 11 percent from a year ago. The drop was less severe at community colleges, where the decline in head counts was 3.4 percent.

Still, public two-year colleges remain the hardest-hit sector since the start of the pandemic, with enrollment down 13.2 percent since 2019. Leaders of community colleges have said some of their students struggled to pivot online at the start of the health crisis because of spotty Internet access, while others took a step back from school because of family obligations.

Because community colleges educate a large share of students from low-to-moderate-income families, higher education experts worry a continuation of enrollment declines could erode their earnings potential. Shapiro is broadly concerned that tepid enrollment throughout higher education will impact the nation for years to come.

“There’s a great deal at stake,” he said. “We have to get students back on track, re-engage them.”
There are some promising signs in the data. Freshman enrollment stabilized in fall 2021 following a precipitous decline the previous year, even though it remains 9.2 percent lower compared with pre-pandemic levels. Private nonprofit four-year colleges are driving the increase in enrollment, with an increase of 11,600 students, according to Clearinghouse data.

Only four states — Arizona, Colorado, New Hampshire and South Carolina — witnessed an increase in total fall enrollment. Head counts at colleges and universities in Maryland fell 5 percent, largely driven by depressed enrollment at community colleges. The same trend prevailed in Virginia, where total fall enrollment dipped 1.2 percent because of public two-year schools.
 
This guy needs some target practice. At least he had two hands on the gun.

Suspect shoots Queens speed camera multiple times



HOWARD BEACH, Queens — Some people will do anything do avoid being caught speeding, but one suspect took it a step further: shooting multiple rounds at a Department of Transportation camera.

The suspect rode up to the speed camera, located at the intersection of 86th Street and 158th Avenue, on an electric bicycle about 3:18 a.m. Jan. 7, police said Wednesday.

The person then shot the camera multiple times; the shots were caught on video and released by the NYPD.

Police said no injuries were reported.

Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
 
Nice to see FDA thinks there are some more important things for them to be involved with...

After 72 years, FDA says French dressing won’t have a legal definition

By Amy Cheng Today at 4:57 a.m. EST

Your French dressing may no longer need to be at least 35 percent vegetable oil.

The “standard of identity” for French dressing, a legal definition that has been on the books since 1950, is being revoked, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. The regulatory agency explained that its requirement for what French dressing must include “no longer promotes honesty and fair dealing” for consumers’ benefit.

In fact, rescinding the decades-long standard will “provide greater flexibility in the product’s manufacture, consistent with comparable, nonstandardized foods available in the marketplace,” according to an FDA filing to the Federal Register, set to be published Thursday.

The announcement came in response to a petition filed by the Association of Dressings and Sauces in 1998. The group complained then that the FDA’s strict formulation of French dressing limits innovation and thus the number of options available to consumers. Low-fat and fat-free versions of the creamy vinaigrette, despite having growing customer interest, could not be legally deemed as such, the group said in its petition. (It did not respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.)

According to the FDA’s prior stipulation, French dressing must contain vinegar or lemon or lime juice, with vegetable oil making up at least 35 percent of the product’s weight . Ingredients such as salt, tomato paste and spices are allowed but not required.

The federal regulatory body did not respond to a request to address the time lag between the 1998 petition and its recent decision. With the standard of identity gone, French dressing can have less vegetable oil or more tomato paste so long as these ingredients are safe to consume. And now manufacturers may have the flexibility to explore new recipes of French dressing or label their products without having to worry about federal regulations.

For instance, the Illinois-based Mullen’s brand named one of its best-selling products the “Imitation” French dressing because it contains only half of the oil and fat content previously required by the FDA.

“To meet state and federal law requirements, we chose to change the name rather than add more oil to the original recipe,” the company said on its product page. “You’ll find this delightful pouring type dressing light and delicious.”

French dressing isn’t the only dining table staple with a precise FDA definition. For example, mayonnaise has to be no less than 65 percent vegetable oil (by weight), and vanilla extract must be at least 35 percent ethyl alcohol (by volume).

In late 2020, the FDA proposed that it revoke the standard of identity for frozen cherry pies, a household favorite that must have a quarter of its weight taken up by actual fruit, with no more than 15 percent of the cherries blemished. The dessert also cannot contain any artificial sweeteners.

These rules, according to cherry-pie makers, were outdated, unnecessary and perhaps even anti-American. The FDA chief at the time, Scott Gottlieb, agreed, writing on Twitter that “the American people” would now be free to “add extra fruit, sugar, and make the crust especially thick.”
 
I weep for the IGNORANCE of our country!!

Guess you can't fix stupid: Read it and weep: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/01/14/virginia-lincoln-douglas-frederick-douglass/

Hey, Virginia lawmakers, the Lincoln-Douglas debates did not feature Frederick Douglass

Of all the paragraphs in a bill to ban “divisive concepts” from being taught in Virginia public schools, Section B3 may seem the most innocuous. After all, it is in the part of the proposal that defined what could actually be taught in history classes, not the myriad things that would be banned or the consequences teachers could face for teaching them, including prosecution and being fired.

Section B3 of the bill, sponsored by Republican freshman Del. Wren Williams, defines what can be taught as “the founding documents,” like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, excerpts from the Federalist Papers, the writings of the Founding Fathers and Alexis de Tocqueville’s classic “Democracy in America.” Oh, and one more thing: “the first debate between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.”

It is a clear reference to the famed Lincoln-Douglas debates, one of the high points in this country’s intellectual, moral and civic history, but there’s just one problem: Lincoln did not debate Frederick Douglass.
 
Your wives and girlfriends may be really concerned about this story!!!!

Tsunami waves hit South Pacific island of Tonga following underwater volcanic eruption​


(CNN) A tsunami has hit Tonga's largest island, Tongatapu, and reportedly sent waves flooding into the capital after an underwater volcano in the South Pacific exploded in a violent eruption on Saturday, sending a cloud of ash and gas steam into the air.

Satellite imagery shows a massive ash cloud and shockwaves spreading from the eruption.

A tsunami warning has been issued for the islands of Tonga. Tsunami advisories have also been issued as far away as New Zealand's North Island.

Waves crossed the shoreline of Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, on Saturday, flowing onto coastal roads and flooding properties, according to CNN affiliate Radio New Zealand (RNZ).

Tonga's King Tupou VI was evacuated from the Royal Palace after the tsunami flooded the capital, RNZ reported, citing local media reports that a convoy of police and troops rushed the monarch to a villa at Mata Ki Eua.

Residents headed for higher ground, RNZ said, as waves swept the palace grounds, waterfront and main street.

So why are our lady folks edgy??? Because they're all worried about the welfare of this guy!!

1642252001681.webp
 

Britain’s medieval warhorses were smaller than you think​

1642469848528.webp


A woodcut of James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, patron saint of Spain, riding a horse.

They’re the stuff of sagas: Warhorses that towered above men in battle, playing a vital role in Britain’s medieval history.
But a new study suggests that popular depictions of medieval warhorses are a tiny bit off.

Okay, a lot. Instead of towering steeds, the horses may have looked a lot more like ponies.
Published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, the study investigated over 1,900 horse bones from 171 archaeological sites in England dated between A.D. 300 and 1650. The researchers say it’s the largest data set of its kind — a benefit that makes up for the relative lack of horse bones in archaeological sites. (People of the past usually processed horse carcasses so they could use their skins and other parts.)

The size of the database offered a glimpse at how horses changed over a long period of time. Analyzing the size of the bones, the researchers found that horses “were ponies by modern standards” between the fifth and 12th centuries. From the top of the shoulders to their hoofs, the early horses averaged less than 4 feet 10.

Larger horses were found in the mix from the Norman period of 1066 on, but horse heights grew only after the medieval age. Horses as big as 5 feet 4 would have been considered large outliers at the time, the researchers write.

When the team analyzed the horse bones’ robusticity — their strength relative to their size — they found that over time, horses’ metatarsal bones became markedly more robust between about 1200 and 1350. This could reflect breeding programs that aimed to develop sturdy horses that could stop abruptly and change direction easily.
The researchers saw the robustness of the bones decline in the early 16th century, which would coincide with a decline in the British horse trade.

Ultimately, the researchers failed to find a certain marker of warhorses in archaeological contexts. They suggest that warhorses’ archaeological remains are much more likely to be found in former domestic settings than castles, and that different warhorses were bred for different purposes.

The hunt for the warhorse — or war pony — continues.
 

Out of this world: 555.55-carat black diamond lands in Dubai​

pressherald.com/2022/01/17/out-of-this-world-555-55-carat-black-diamond-lands-in-dubai/

associated press January 17, 2022
Dubai_Sothebys_Black_Diamond_28526-1642462633.jpg

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Auction house Sotheby’s Dubai has unveiled a diamond that’s literally from out of this world.

Sotheby’s calls the 555.55-carat black diamond – believed to have come from outer space – “The Enigma.” The rare gem was shown off on Monday to journalists as part of a tour in Dubai and Los Angeles before it is due to be auctioned off in February in London.

Sotheby’s expects the diamond to be sold for at least 5 million British pounds ($6.8 million). The auction house plans to accept cryptocurrency as a possible payment as well.

Sophie Stevens, a jewelry specialist at Sotheby’s Dubai, told The Associated Press that the number five bears an importance significance to the diamond, which has 55 facets as well.

“The shape of the diamond is based on the Middle-Eastern palm symbol of the Khamsa, which stands for strength and it stands for protection,” she said. Khamsa in Arabic means five.

“So there’s a nice theme of the number five running throughout the diamond,” she added.

Stevens also said the black diamond is likely from outer space.

“With the carbonado diamonds, we believe that they were formed through extraterrestrial origins, with meteorites colliding with the Earth and either forming chemical vapor disposition or indeed coming from the meteorites themselves,” she said.

Black diamonds, also known as carbonado, are extremely rare, and are found naturally only in Brazil and Central Africa. The cosmic origin theory is based on their carbon isotopes and high hydrogen content.
 
and they just continue to provide entertainment....


Apparently, there is no conspiracy theory too wild for some QAnon followers.

Case in point: Members of a QAnon group based in Dallas have floated the theory that John F. Kennedy is not only alive, but disguised himself as former President Donald Trump over the weekend to attend a rally in Florence, Arizona.

As evidence, the group’s leader, Michael Protzman, claims Trump appeared to be shorter than he should have been, Vice News reported.


:ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
Rut-roh...

As Florida home prices spike, middle-class residents wonder if they can afford to stay

Amid a surge of demand from out-of-state buyers, limited inventory and booming neighborhood redevelopment, the Sunshine State is quickly becoming one of the least affordable places to live in the United States.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...69ac0c-72ea-11ec-b202-b9b92330d4fa_story.html

My favorite Elon Musk quote about the owner of WaPo

"You cannot sue your way to the moon, no matter how good your lawyers are,” Musk said Tuesday at the CodeCon 2021 conference.
 
Boy are they going to be in for harsh realty check...

A professor said her students think Americans make six figures on average. That’s a long way off.​

The question asked by Nina Strohminger to her students at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania was straightforward: What did they think the average American makes in annual wages?

Some of the answers, however, were not what the professor of legal studies and business ethics expected from one of the country’s most prestigious business schools, she said.

“I asked Wharton students what they thought the average American worker makes per year and 25% of them thought it was over six figures,” she tweeted Wednesday. “One of them thought it was $800k.”

Strohminger, who put the real answer at about $45,000 a year, had a hard time wrapping her head around what some Wharton students believed was an average wage.

“Really not sure what to make of this,” she wrote.
 
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