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First Person

Dear Senator Toomey: The Cuts You Vote for Make It Impossible to Feed My Family

Editor’s Note: These are modified remarks from a “Tuesdays with Toomey” event on February 7, 2017.

Dear Senator Toomey,

You don’t know me. You have never met me, or answered any of my calls. But you have power and influence over my life—and my children’s well-being—and that scares me.

So Senator Toomey, let me introduce myself:  My name is Myra Young. I’m a mother, an advocate, and I live in poverty.

I work hard to take care of my family. For the last 22 years I worked as a certified nursing assistant, but I still lived in poverty and needed government assistance to put food on the table and to keep my kids healthy. Two months ago, the company I worked for closed and I was laid off. Now without my job, my struggle is even more difficult.  I only receive $33 a month in food stamps—barely enough to get my family through one healthy meal. My kids need fruit and vegetables, but I simply cannot afford them.

Last week, my 10-year-old son asked, “Mom, why do you cry so much?”

I told him, “Because I want to take care of you and your sister, but it’s so hard.”

But why is it so hard, Senator?

It’s hard because wages are too low.
It’s hard because we have to beg for scraps when we need help.
And it’s hard because of politicians like you, Senator Toomey.

You have everything I want: a safe home to go to, a job that pays a good wage, and a family in good health.  But you want to take away the little bit I have by cutting programs that help me—and people like me—feed my family.  That hurts us.  That keeps us down. And that makes me angry.

You are wrong, Senator Toomey.
You are wrong if you don’t protect these programs.
You are wrong if you don’t care about my family.

Would you be able to survive one week in my shoes?

Would you be able to survive one week in my shoes?  Would you be able to manage the daily struggle of trying to feed your family? Manage the stress of not knowing if you will be able to pay rent for the month? Manage the fear that your child may need health care that you cannot afford?

If I were in your shoes, and had the power to help a mother with two disabled children, I would do it.  I would make sure she has the services she needs to care for her family.  I would take care of the more than 1.6 million people in Pennsylvania who live paycheck to paycheck.

Senator Toomey, as a member of Witnesses to Hunger, my sisters and I will continue to speak out and fight for the needs of our children, families, and communities.

It’s your responsibility to do the same.

Trump’s Labor Department Nominee Should Just Drop Out Already

President Trump’s pick for labor secretary, Andrew Puzder, should finally have a confirmation hearing this Thursday—after four separate delays.  His nomination process has been fraught since it was announced two months ago: The media has surfaced allegations ranging from past mob ties, to disputed allegations of domestic assault, to illegally avoiding taxes by paying a housekeeper under the table. The parade of scandals has caused some Senate Republicans to question whether the mega-rich CEO of CKE Restaurants, the corporation that operates Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., is qualified to lead the Labor Department.

These allegations may be what ultimately derail Puzder’s path to confirmation, but it’s actually his virulently anti-worker behavior that should disqualify him from being the nation’s top advocate for working people.

Despite Trump’s often-repeated campaign promise to stand up for working Americans, his nominee is a longtime advocate for gutting worker protection laws and silencing workers’ voices on the job. While this may be good news for CEOs in fast food and other low-wage industries, it’s bad news for the people Trump has sworn to protect.

Even though Americans’ wages have been stagnant for years, Puzder opposes government policies that would increase wages and improve job quality. He opposed the recent rule that would expand overtime so that it would reach 4.2 million more workers, he has scoffed at the idea that workers may need to take rest breaks over the course of their shift,  and he has argued that “some jobs don’t produce enough economic value” to justify raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.

Carl’s Jr. practices in other countries undermine Puzder’s argument that the market couldn’t bear a higher wage.  At its 20 locations in New Zealand, the chain must pay at least the federal minimum wage of $15.25 per hour (or $11.07 in American dollars). The chain is also planning to open up 300 stores in Australia, where the law requires that adult fast food workers be paid at least $19.44 per hour (nearly $15 in American dollars) with hourly pay premiums for overtime and night shift work.

But here in the U.S., Puzder’s company may have failed to even comply with the existing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.  In a 2014 investigation of a corporate-owned Hardee’s in Alabama, government investigators alleged that workers were being paid less than the federal minimum wage because CKE was paying workers with fee-laden prepaid debit cards. And just last week, two Carl’s Jr. employees filed suit against CKE and its franchises, claiming that the companies use “no-hire agreements” that prevent managers from moving to new jobs with higher pay. The company released a statement saying it will not comment on the specifics of the lawsuit.

Workers have filed dozens of other complaints against Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. stores for wage theft, overtime violations, sexual harassment, and unfair labor practices. A spokesperson for CKE restaurants said the company will not comment on the pending litigation, but argued—despite a recent report to the contrary—that the franchise restaurant owners are “solely responsible for their employees, management, and adherence to regulations and labor practices.”

He prefers workers who do not—or cannot—advocate for better conditions.

In addition to opposing a living wage and basic worker protections, Puzder has made it clear that he prefers workers who do not—or cannot—advocate for better conditions. As an employer, he has reasoned that immigrant workers make better employees since they have what he refers to as a “‘Thank God I have this job’ kind of attitude,” which presumably translates to a hesitance to speak up when there are problems. He also looks forward to one day operating completely automated employee-free restaurants since machines are “always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there’s never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case.”

These individual anti-worker beliefs and practices culminate in Puzder’s desire to silence the voice and power of working Americans by dismantling unions. He is a vocal critic of the Fight for $15, and he opposes reforms that would hold franchisors accountable for discrimination against workers who participate in protests and strikes. At least one former Hardee’s franchise employee alleges that she was fired for her involvement in protests to demand higher wages and a union.

Puzder’s disdain for unions extends beyond the fast food industry where he has a clear self-interest. When Walmart announced last year that it would close 154 stores (the vast majority of which were smaller stores) in an effort to focus on supercenters and e-commerce, he ignored Walmart’s own statement and blamed workers for the closures. With no evidence to back up his claim, Puzder penned an op-ed faulting a worker group for the closures.

This sort of right-wing opposition to unions and workers’ collective voice isn’t new—but with a Republican-controlled White House and Congress the stakes are higher. The government will likely debate legislative proposals and administrative changes that could cripple unions by cutting their funding and membership.

If Puzder continues to take aggressively anti-union positions as labor secretary, it will not just be bad for union members. Unions help raise wages, reduce inequality, and boost economic mobility for all workers—whether or not they’re in a union. And without organized labor, working people lose negotiating power in the workplace and in government—whether it’s their ability to negotiate for higher wages or to defend policies like Social Security and Medicaid that protect the middle class.

So much for Trump’s promise to protect and fight for American workers.

Congress Wants to Make it Possible to Drug Test Anyone Who Applies for Unemployment

Tomorrow, the House of Representatives is expected to vote to roll back a Department of Labor regulation that protects people who apply for Unemployment Insurance (UI) from unnecessary drug testing. It’s a not-so-subtle attack on the character of unemployed Americans, rooted in stereotypes that blame workers for job loss.

Congress has already agreed to allow states to test UI claimants in two specific, narrow circumstances: if a worker was fired from their previous job because of drug use, or if the worker is looking for a new job in a field that regularly drugs tests employees.  But since the Great Recession, some states have been clamoring to expand drug testing for UI applicants—they believe that they’d be able to shrink the program as workers test positive for drugs, or that workers would decline to apply for benefits because of their drug use. Despite the complete absence of data to support this theory, three states—Texas, Mississippi, and Wisconsin—have enacted laws that permit the drug testing of UI recipients (though they have all held implementation until the Labor Department rule was finalized).

Lawmakers aren’t just hoping to roll back the Labor Department rule. They’re also counting on passage of a bill introduced in the 114th Congress by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) that would effectively allow states to drug test all jobless workers filing for unemployment insurance.

Here are five reasons that shouldn’t be allowed:

1. It’s unconstitutional

Drug tests have historically been considered searches for the purposes of the Fourth Amendment. For searches to be reasonable, they must be based on “individualized suspicion.” That means the government would need to have a specific reason to believe that each person they drug tested was doing drugs. Otherwise, it’s like conducting a search without a warrant.

The only exception to this rule has been if the government can show there is a special need, such as public safety, that warrants it.But governmental programs like Unemployment Insurance, TANF, SNAP, and housing assistance do not naturally evoke the special needs exceptions that the Supreme Court has recognized in the past.

2. It’s redundant

Twenty states already explicitly deny people UI benefits if they lost their job because of drug use or a failed drug test. In addition, virtually all states treat a drug-related discharge as disqualifying misconduct even if it is not explicitly referenced in their discharge statutes. Adding an additional regulation when state regulations are already accomplishing this task would add to the bureaucracy that this administration has vowed to reduce.

3. It’s expensive

Creating a new qualifying requirement for UI would be very expensive, and federal law prohibits states from making potential beneficiaries pay for drug tests. States would have to absorb the cost of drug testing thousands of unemployed workers, and UI programs are already too under-funded and under-staffed. Though there are no comprehensive estimates of how much this would cost, when Texas was considering drug testing UI applicants a few years ago, it was estimated to cost $30 million per year.  In FY 2012, federal funding fell short of covering states’ administrative expenses by an estimated $231 million.

4. Workers have already paid for access to the program

Unemployment Insurance is funded through payroll taxes. Workers earn that benefit over the course of their career—and they don’t have access to it unless they lose their job and are working to find a new one.

5. It’s based on negative stereotypes, not data

This attempt to violate the privacy of every American who is unlucky enough to lose a job is rooted in a blanket assumption that the ranks of the unemployed are crowded with lazy drug abusers. However, there is no evidence to support this claim. When states have attempted similar drug-testing initiatives in the past, only a small fraction of recipients—less than one half of one percent—actually tested positive (and finding that small group of people cost hundreds of thousands of dollars).

Realistically, two-thirds of Americans will struggle with unemployment at some point during their careers. Imposing an expensive, ineffective, and unconstitutional new obstacle to a program that most of us will need doesn’t actually solve anything.

How a Union Vote in Charleston Could Change the Labor Movement in the South

Mike Evans has worked as an organizer for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) for more than two decades.  He says he’s never had an organizing experience like he’s had in Charleston, South Carolina—home of a 6,000-worker Boeing plant.

Last year, when the union tried to sponsor the city’s Cooper River Bridge Run, its check was returned.

“We got a letter saying that what we do as a union doesn’t fit with their other sponsors”—which included Boeing, says Evans.

The union then tried to sponsor the Knights of Columbus 5K race on Thanksgiving.

“They sent the check back after consulting with their board,” says Evans. “They didn’t want to give us any ability to brand ourselves as being part of the community.”

Organizers of both events declined to comment on why the union’s sponsorship was rejected.

This Wednesday, the workers at the plant will vote on whether to unionize.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner plant in North Charleston is the crown jewel of South Carolina’s economic rebirth. Union opponents point to a state economy that is currently growing at twice the rate of the U.S. economy. However, that growth hasn’t meant equal opportunity for all.

South Carolina has the 11th highest poverty rate in the U.S., with 16.7 percent of its residents living below the poverty line. Despite the opening of new manufacturing plants, the state’s poverty rate is actually higher than when the recession began in 2008.

One contributing factor is a lack of unions throughout the state, which depresses wages. In fact,  research shows that unions increase workers’ wages and benefits, reduce inequality and poverty, and boost economic mobility across generations.

At the North Charleston plant, for example, Evans says that workers in some job classifications are paid half as much as their unionized counterparts in Washington State, and that they often have second or third jobs to help make ends meet.  As a result, the IAM has been trying to organize since the plant first opened in 2011.

“Every community event, you see them everywhere sponsoring stuff,” says Ken Riley, President of the South Carolina AFL-CIO. “They have been sponsoring Little League ballgames. If there is a picnic in the city, they are there.”

Boeing has countered with billboards and TV ads painting the IAM as an out-of-state organization that previously tried to prevent the plant from opening in order to keep jobs in Washington State. To support its case, Boeing has focused heavily on an NLRB complaint that the union filed in 2011 and later withdrew.  In it, the IAM alleged that the company shifted work to South Carolina in order to retaliate against Washington State-based union workers who went on strike in 2009.

“Boeing has always believed in South Carolina, but the IAM hasn’t” reads, an anti-union website built by the corporation.  “Now they want our teammates and our community to forget about how they tried to shut us down”.

Boeing workers have been forced to attend anti-union seminars. Management even set up two tables at the plant—one with diapers and children’s clothing, another with groceries—each representing the $800 dollars in union dues that workers would pay annually.

This isn’t the first time Boeing has taken on an IAM organizing effort at the plant. In 2015, the company organized town halls with workers and promised to address their complaints. Many workers believed Boeing’s assurances, and support for the union waned. Fearing a loss, the IAM called off the election.

But the union says this time around is different—some of the goodwill workers felt towards the company has worn off.

“We are getting much more support than last time because of [Boeing’s] broken promises,” says Evans.

Workers say that the plant has reneged on promises to be more responsive to feedback, hold regular meetings with workers to hear criticism, increase wages, and make scheduling more consistent.

“I have honestly never worked anywhere, union or not, that flip-flops so much as Boeing has lately,” says Sean Cribb, a production worker at the plant. “They can’t decide overtime rules, [or] work schedules.  They are moving management around so much that none of them can learn the work package so they can better assist their team.”

Although Boeing declined to comment on any of these specific allegations—and it’s worth noting that U.S. labor protections are so weak that none of this anti-union activity is illegal—spokesperson Elizabeth Merida said in a statement, “[Boeing] believe[s] our team is best served by having a direct relationship with the company and working as one team as we continue to build on the great successes that have already been achieved here.”

Union officials say a win on February 15 could be a watershed moment, opening the door for organizing in the south, beginning with the BMW plant in Spartanburg or the soon-to-open Volvo plant in Berkeley County.

“This would be the breakthrough of the century if they would win,” says Riley.

That’s because corporations and their political allies routinely argue—with great success—that unions in the north are the main reason why so many corporations are heading south. South Carolina has the lowest unionization rate of any state in the nation, with only 2.1 percent of its workers organized.  Former Governor Nikki Haley was explicit about her desire to keep unions out.

“You’ve heard me say many times I wear heels. It’s not for a fashion statement. It’s because we’re kicking them every day, and we’ll continue to kick them,” she said.

But Evans and other organizers say a win in North Charleston would be a huge step towards ending that anti-union legacy, finally giving workers in South Carolina a voice in addressing wages and increasing inequality.

“This is such a tough environment. There is really a lack of any structure that tells people that they can do this,” says Evans.  “When they see workers at Boeing get a first contract and its decent, I think a lot more people in the south will want to reach out.”

First Person

The Affordable Care Act Would Have Saved My Husband’s Life

Editor’s Note: This article is adapted from a Facebook post.

Ten years ago, before the Affordable Care Act was passed, I became a 26-year-old widow with a 2-year-old child.

I want to tell you about how health insurance changes lives—how it can save them, and what is lost when it fails.

My late husband Bob and I met when I was only 13. Bob was a wise old man of 15. Everyone liked him—he was the kind of person who made other people feel good about the world and about themselves. I liked him right away, and we started dating after he asked me to go to a dance. We were the rare high school sweethearts who maintained a relationship through college, even though Bob was two years ahead of me in school.

Bob was a musician and an educator. He earned a Master’s degree in music, and performed in St. Louis and towns all over the Midwest. His income from those gigs was a very significant part of our household budget. He taught at jazz camps for kids, and as an adjunct faculty at various local colleges. Bob loved teaching. A lot of people teach because it’s a reliable source of income to support their passion for performance, but Bob taught because he loved being with students. He was incredibly methodical and organized in his approach to teaching. Many of his friends and former students are still teaching music today using his methods and materials at various institutions in and around my hometown of St. Louis.

Bob was also a gifted composer, because he had worked hard to learn theory and technique until they obeyed the commands of his heart. He spoke the language of music far more eloquently than most of us ever speak with words. I didn’t recognize Bob’s gift when he was living as well as I do now. After he released a CD in 2004, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) selected him to receive a Young Jazz Composer’s Award for one of his songs, “Nola’s Waltz.” As my own musical understanding grows, I hear more and more of what he had to say and how beautifully he told his stories.

He was certainly living the dream in those years—from 1997, when his musical career started, until 2007, when it abruptly came to an end.

What happened?

When he was 25, Bob started having stomach aches. We were married, expecting a child, and working ten jobs between the two of us. I had three jobs and was a full-time student, and Bob taught at six different places in addition to his performance gigs. None of these jobs had paid sick days, so when Bob had stomach pains, he just went to work anyway.

He had a pre-existing condition: he had taken medication for acne

Health insurance was always a problem for us. We purchased it through our college when we were students, but when Bob graduated and we tried to find our own insurance most companies rejected us because Bob was overweight and had a pre-existing condition: he had taken medication for acne when he was in high school. We were able to purchase a catastrophic insurance policy, but it had a deductible of $5,000 and cost us a little less than that each year in premiums.

About 20 percent of our income at that time was going toward medical expenses. We were racking up debt, and paying quite a bit of interest on it. In hindsight, we probably restricted our access to care. Just paying the premiums was enough of a financial burden—we did not want to add to it with copays.

Bob’s stomach aches got gradually worse over time, until he finally went to the ER. We both thought he was having a heart attack, because he was so sweaty and clammy and in so much pain. He was diagnosed with gallbladder problems, and we were relieved that it wasn’t something worse.

In a follow-up visit to the doctor, Bob was told that he didn’t have to do anything until the pain was bad enough to warrant having his gallbladder removed. So Bob muscled his way through the attacks, even when they were so bad that he was literally crawling in pain. It was very frustrating for me as his wife. I was angry with him because he refused to go to the doctor and get his surgery to get that gallbladder out.

Starting in the 2006-2007 school year, Bob was hired as a full-time faculty member of Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC). We had employer-based health coverage for the first time, and he was not about to risk losing that right when we got it by calling in sick for a few weeks. He was determined to stick it out until the end of that school year to do the right thing for his job—and his wife and son.

On March 22, 2007, Bob called me at home and told me that he was having an attack at work and that I needed to come get him and take him to the hospital. I drove him to the ER with our 2-year-old in tow, and the three of us spent the entire night in a hallway in the hospital basement. Bob was delirious from pain and sedation. He had acute pancreatitis, which was caused by a gallstone that had escaped his gallbladder and lodged itself in his pancreas.

Bob spent three weeks in the ICU at that hospital, was airlifted to a bigger hospital, and spent another three weeks in the ICU there.  His last words to me were all confusion about why he was in the hospital and why no one would let him go home. He just wanted to see his son.

In the middle of the night on May 3, a nurse called to tell me that Bob had taken a turn for the worse. I called his friends and family, and we sat vigil for him in the waiting room. There were probably 30 of us there when a nurse told me he was the sickest person in the hospital.

His death came at the end of a desperate, gory fight to save him. If you’ve never watched someone die of sepsis, I hope you stay that way.

Bob’s funeral was attended by at least 600 people. It was beautiful. People came together to express their grief by supporting his family. I was amazed at how caring people can be. I also barely remember it, because I slept so little in those days. Bob’s death left me adrift as a 26-year-old widow and single mother with few job prospects. I was still in the middle of my own education when he died.

Things worked out far better for me than they do for most people in my position, thanks to Bob’s life insurance, health insurance, and Social Security. Since Bob was covered by his employer’s health insurance, the medical bills that packed my mailbox for months after his death—I lost track of the total after it topped a quarter of a million dollars—were covered. They didn’t force me into bankruptcy, so I was able to rebuild our life. I spent countless nights grieving alone and struggling to work around the hole in my heart, and I spent my days going to school and raising our son, Bobby. I earned a Master’s Degree in Art Therapy Counseling, and provided more than 1,400 hours of services to others as part of earning that degree. I remarried in 2011.

It all could have gone very differently if the laws in our country had been on a slightly different timeline. If the ACA had passed in 2004 instead of 2009, Bob and I would have had coverage we weren’t afraid to use. Bob would have been covered by his parents’ insurance until only two months before his employer-based coverage began. He could’ve had his gallbladder taken out months before it killed him.

If the ACA is repealed, there will be many more stories like Bob's

If the ACA is repealed—if we no longer prevent insurance companies from excluding people based on pre-existing conditions like teenage acne, or no longer require insurance companies to cover young adults when they may not yet work the kinds of jobs that provide health insurance—then there will be many more stories like Bob’s. There will be many more incandescent American lives that flicker out.

If we lose these provisions, my own experiences will inform the health care I’m willing to procure for my children. Perhaps I’ll decide that it’s better to leave my children’s allergies and minor illnesses and acne untreated, knowing that a diagnosis as a child could prevent them from being able to access more important health care as an adult.

Is that really the best we have to offer our children?

I know the ACA isn’t perfect—our employer-based coverage premiums and copays have gone up. Insurance policies change too often. But at least we have coverage, and under the current law we aren’t afraid we will lose it if we use it.

That is worth protecting. Find a way to do it.


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David Dao requires reconstructive surgery after United Airlines ordeal, says lawyer

David Dao was removed from a flight on Sunday

David Dao was removed from a flight on Sunday

Thursday, April 13, 2017

The lawyer representing United Airlines passenger David Dao has said he requires reconstructive surgery after being thrown off a flight on Sunday.

The lawyer also said Dao will "probably" sue the airline over his brutal removal from the plane, which was caught on video and has since sparked a firestorm of protest.

The lawyer said Dao requires surgery after suffering concussion, a broken nose and two broken teeth after being thrown off flight 3411, to make room for United staff.

Attorney Tom Demetrio told reporters Dao was discharged from hospital on Wednesday and had been left "shaken" by the incident, according to The Independent.

Dao's daughter also said "my dad is a wonderful father. He has raised five great children who will go on to do great things.

"He is a loving grandfather. At the end of the day he is the person we are trying to protect and take care of."

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Tango Diva : Travel Stories for Women, by Women

July 11th, 2006
Wassup Rockers

wassup rockersThis film is hitting the West Coast hard and fast – just like the skaters it profiles. Wassup Rockers, directed by Larry Clark, is a jarring look at inner city life and the innocents that grow and play amongst the violence and general craziness of South Central Los Angeles. I did flinch at the punk rock sound track – but I fell for the story and the young boys in it. About 8-9 young latin men who spend there days skating, flying thru ugliness of life so that appears like a colorful blur in the background. The boys are real-not actors. Larry Clark (previous films KIDS & BULLY) recruited a few of them for a high profile french fashion magazine ad about 3 years ago. After the Saturday shoot – he dropped the boys off home, saving them several hours and dollars to get back. The next Saturday – they called him up and asked him to take them skating. Thereafter, every Saturday for 18 months, Larry took them skating all over the Los Angeles basin. Eventually he realized he had more than new friends, he had a viable story to tell. I really enjjoyed this film. Kico and Jonathan are adorable and have film futures ahead of them. Patti Anne sez check it out!

One thought on “Wassup Rockers

  1. The Chronicle film reviewer P. Hartlaub so did not get this film.
    “Clark infuses the plot with annoying stereotypes, including a racist cop
    and Charlton Heston clone, who pollute the film’s message.”
    What exactly would that message be ? I found the blatent
    stereotypes refreshing as the latino kids were “real” and everyone
    else was a walking talking acting obvious stereotype. I thought THAT
    was the message. To see the world thru the kids eyes and for us to
    see them as real.

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Simple Bible Curricula

*This is an old unpublished post I found that I am hitting publish on.  It is fun to look back and remember, “Oh yeah, we did that!”  This year we are reading through Cathrine Vos’s The Child’s Story Bible and The New City Catechism Devotional.    I like to be going through a story bible at all times for my younger kids, but I like to stretch my bigger kids with some big ideas.  True confession:  I really wanted to read through The New City Catechism and so adding it to morning time kept me accountable!  :). It is lofty for most of my kids but it is still good.

So now here is the post from curricula past!

After my blog post on our curriculum picks I had a couple people ask, “What are you using for Bible?”  I forgot to put that in my review!

We have done several things in the past.  We have just read Bible Stories.  We did an Old Testament action timeline (roughly based on Walk Thru the Bible’s program.  I HIGHLY recommend taking a child through this program to get a grasp on the timeline of the Old Testament.)  Last year we read Leading Little Ones to God.

At the beginning of 2016 we got the book The Ology.  I really like this book.  It is well written for elementary students.  It has short lessons that are interesting to listen to and art that is pretty to look at.  There are Bible passages that can be looked up for a more indepth study.  I can see us coming back to this one for a second study in a few years.

We will continue to memorize scripture and hymns as a part of our morning time.  It is a part of our Bible study although it almost didn’t get included in this list of resources. I forget to add it to the list of curriculum because it doesn’t feel like curriculum.   Mostly it feels like who we are.  I love that.  It has become our daily bread, the light on our path, the sword of the Spirit.

Poetry Illustrations

Poetry doesn’t fit into one academic subject box for me.  Many would put poems inthe category of reading, writing and grammar.  Rightly so, but I see poetry as an art.  So while we could dissect the word patterns and evaluate the rhyming schemes, I wanted the kids to see poems as pictures.  Without any real formal curriculum I decided to try a make-shift, week long poetry unit.  I assigned each of the kids a poem to memorize that was all their own, and I choose one group poem for us all to illustrate individually.

Some homeschools have a weekly poetry tea time. Four of my kids really enjoy this.  (Fancy desserts always help.) One of mine seems determined to sabotage poetry tea time. We are in the habit now of working on a poem to memorize, but we have come back to poetry illustration when we need a break from our regular curriculum.

Here’s how it works…

First, I get a couple short, simple illustrated poetry book from the library.  We read them together and talk about how the illustrator was inspired by the poet’s words.

Then I give them a copy of a poem without illustrations OR a title.  I give each child time everyday for a week to plan and practice his or her own illustration of that poem.  The finished product is due Friday.  The poem should be written on their art work, and they must come up with a title.  BUT they cannot let their siblings see their ideas or know their title.  We like secrets around here.

Finally, we all come together and share our art at the end of the week.  The finished pieces are so fun because they reflect each of the kids’ interpretation of the poem as they make the poem their own.  When they reveal their personal illustrations and new titles, the kids have been amazed that anyone else could see the poem differently than they did.  (There are some good life lessons there!)

We first did a poem about leaves from the book Autumnings.  My daughter picked deep colors to illustrate hers.  For my son it was all about the action words in the poem.  I didn’t catch it at first, but he wrote all the words of the poem inside the leaves that he drew.  I loved seeing their strengths and personalities come out in this project.

When we used this method this year we my second son join us.  He does not like to draw, but he came up with a plan for his snow poem: cutting snowflakes.  He was proud that his work was so different than his siblings.  They had completely different yet beautiful illustrations and different titles.  One chose “White Snowflakes,”  the other “In the Silent Night,” and the third “Drifters.”

I love seeing the kids connect with the poems, and I look forward to collecting a pile of illustrated poems from each of the kids that I will cherish in the years to come.

Homeschooling through Burnout

There are seasons to homeschooling.  Some follow the weather;  we do nature study when in the spring or fall and extend our reading when it’s 4 degrees outside.  Some seasons shift with the age of the students, pre-readers to readers, playful curiosity to avid readers with deeply thought out questions.  Seasons can change because of family dynamics, like adding a new baby.  If we are being really honest some seasons change because of mama’s mood.  Seasons of burnout are real.  Very Real.

I sat with a mother the other day who was burnt.out.  She needed a listening ear.  She needed encouragement.  (Quick shout out to my dearest homeschooling friends who that do that for me on a regular bases!) But she was also asking me practically what I do when I’d rather stick a pencil through my eye than work through another math problem or open up  another read aloud.

Gasp!  Did I just admit to not always loving read aloud time with my people?  I am sure that goes against the homeschool mom’s code or something, but oh yes, I did!  Even something as wonderful as read aloud time can be soured because of a season of burnout.

Sometimes I have to just take a week off.  I do this several times through out the year.  I now plan time off in advance in order to prevent burnout, but I have learned a few other tricks so that we can keep learning when mom needs a break.

1.) Assign an audio book and corresponding art project.  We are a family deeply invested in audio books.  We have seasons when the kids decide when and what they are listening to, but we also have times when I assign audio books and direct what activity they do while they listen.  For us that has primarily been drawing or coloring.  For example, if I picked  Charlotte’s Web or Farmer Boy, I would get them a book on how to draw farm animals to use  while listening. If I assigned Black Beauty or a Misty of Chincoteague I might get a horse coloring book or paint by number.  Our favorites have been Draw Write Now, 1-2-3 Draw, and Drover Coloring books.  There are tons of options though-origami with Sadako and 1000 Paper Cranes. Paper dolls with Little House on the Prairie.

2.) Memory CDs.  This year we could not get all four of our schooling kids in  enrichment classes on the same day so we have relied on “van schooling” more than we ever have.  One term we shelved some of our traditional memory work and listened to memorization CD’s on our way back and forth to enrichment classes.  I have friends who do not participate in Classical Conversations but use the memory CDs from that program.  There are many great Bible memory CDs available for families too.  One of our favorites has been Seeds Family Worship.  We are using a geography CD to memorize our states and capitols.  I plan to use the parts of speech CD for next year.

3.) Workbooks.  Now, some workbooks require a lot of explanation or a lot of correcting.  That’s not the kind that I need during seasons of burnout.  We have always loved Explode the Code for a good phonics review, especially  for my kids who need a little extra help. I like Draw Write Now which mixes art with copywork.  When I find quality educational puzzle books on sale, I pick up word searches, Sudoku, crossword puzzles, mazes, mind benders, or spot the difference books and use them as assignments.

4.) Short Unit Study. One of my favorite ways to reboot when we can’t take a week off from school is to incorporate a unit study.  This isn’t good if I need a break from the kids, but it is great if we all need a break from our curriculum.  I am not a unity study mom, but sometimes it’s good for us all to set aside the books and do something that is just different.  When the kids were younger we did thematic unit studies or literature based units that I pulled of the internet for free. As they have gotten older we have done poetry, art and geography units.

5) Educational DVDs.  I want to put a plug out there for planning ahead and using a DVD series to prevent burnout.  I am one of the many homeschooling moms who has thrown a DVD when I was fried, just trying to make it to the end of the day.  But when I am in a season of burnout sometimes I plan regular DVD’s for a couple of weeks.  One semester we watched 2 episodes of Liberty’s Kids every Friday after our seat work.  There have been many February’s when the days are long, and I plan for a science DVD everyday after lunch. One of the kids’ favorites has been Popular Mechanics for Kids.

6.) Games. I am not going to go into a lot of detail here because there are a boat-load of ideas over at Simple Homeschool, but I assign my kids a game and a game partner several times a week.  I think that it builds relationships and logic skills all at the same time.  (I work myself into the mix of partners too!  For some of my kids it really strikes a chord with  their love language.)

7) Ditch the Guilt. One of the good things about having a few years of homeschooling behind me is that I know that the seasons will come and go.  It doesn’t mean that I am a bad mom or that I should give up on homeschooling.  Burnout happens.  I also have had to ditch the guilt that might accompany any one of the 5 other suggestions that I made.  The homeschooling community can speak so positively about morning time, reading aloud and spending quality time with our kids that I felt guilty if I had to take a break and do something so mediocre like use workbooks or DVDs.  I don’t get the rest or refreshment that I need if the whole time I feel guilty.  I have learned that it is far better for me to accept it and move on.

So if you are feeling the heat of burnout, don’t be afraid to take off the week, or every afternoon this week or every Friday for the next month. I know that I will, and I will be a more refreshed homeschool mom because of it!

Evaluating our 1st Term

This post is a week late.  Obviously I don’t keep any sort of blog schedule-Ha!  Since we started schooling again I haven’t written at all!  But last week was our “Sabbath week.”  We school 6 weeks on 1 week off.  It is a beautiful time of rest and re-calibration.  I spent a vast majority of the time freezer cooking, which was a great thing, but in my heart I knew that I needed to stop and asses how things were going before we continued.  I didn’t and this week I regretted it.  So a week late, I sit here reevaluating. (As this practice is so beneficial for me.  If I didn’t write it here I would have to talk it all out with my husband.  He does not enjoy the tweaking and evaluation process so he is thankful that I do a lot of it in written form.)

Read a-louds-I rocked the read a-louds first term.  I picked stories that I knew I could read a-loud well; it is was so enjoyable. I started a book last week that wasn’t as easy to read out loud.  I am going add it to our audio book list and find something else to read this week. I also used 5 in a Row with my kindergartner, but everyone sat in on that this as well.  We enjoyed the stories together and practiced finding the different elements of a good story.

“I picked stories that I knew I could read a-loud well…”

Veritas History Online-This is still a great option for us.  I think that my only complaint is that I wish it followed a 4 year history cycle.  Sometimes I would like to supplement with other currics and would be easier to do if it followed a 4 year cycle!  The kids’ test scores have improved this year.  Test taking is a skill that they will need someday so it is good to know that they both understand the material and can take tests well.

Teaching Textbooks-There is a great deal of review at the beginning of the year.  It turns out he needed it. 😉  I think that I will find some free printable worksheets for some additional review and confidence before moving forward.  Mastery, understanding, and confidence is so important in math.

Math U See-My 2nd grader is plowing steadily ahead.  I debated pushing him and seeing how fast he could go through this book and move on to the next.  The more that I thought about I decided against it.  The skills that he is working on is so foundational.  Why rush it?  I am assigning quite a bit of practice work, and he is not discouraged.

Build-Your-Own-4th-Grade Math-Before I started planning for the current school year I asked for his thoughts on math for our 4th grader.  Somewhere along the line she got the idea that she hates math-not that she isn’t good at it, but just that she hates it.  She began with MUS, then switched to Horizons.  I wanted to switch her back to MUS for my own ease, but my husband reminded me of some of our math goals for our kids and encouraged me to put together a math specifically for her.  It wasn’t the answer I wanted, but it was the right answer.  We are using the MUS DVDs to teach the math concept, but different workbooks for a little more variety in practice.  So far so good.

Spelling Workout-My first grade and forth grader really liked Spelling Workout last year.  They were able to work independently, and I thought it was great for their vocabulary too.

God’s Design Science-The first term we “finished” up our book on plants. I resisted the urge to plow ahead in the text and took it outside to evaluate leaves and roots.  It meant that we had to skip unit on unusual plants.  It was the right decision.  My oldest son has been itching to do more with science and approached me about it.  What kind of homeschool mom would I be if I said, “No, you can’t learn more!”? We ordered him Exploring Creation with General Science with the MP3 audio companion.  We are only one week into that one, but he has enjoyed his two days of “advanced” science.

Handwriting without Tears-Still my favorite.  I will say it is amazing to see the differences in kids.  One kid can have the most beautiful artistic handwriting and eagerly do page after page.  Another kid can solve complicated math problems in his head and yet struggle to get two sentences written neatly on a page.

Free-Write Friday-I am so glad that before we started a formal writing curriculum we started with free writes.  The kids really enjoy expressing whatever is on their minds without being bogged down with the mechanics.  They each choose one of their Free-Writes to edit at the end of the term.  I think that they enjoy that too.

Bravewriter’s Language Arts program, Arrow– The jury is still out for me on this. A Charlotte Mason approach to language arts sounds really good to me, but it is a leap of faith for me to put it into practice.  Arrow takes a children’s book and spends 4 weeks on 4 different passages doing copy work, dictation, spelling and grammar practice.  Since Arrow is organized in 4 week units and our term is 6 weeks, we used traditional grammar worksheets for the remaining 2 weeks.  There is an ease in teaching to the worksheet.  I have felt like the Abeka worksheets teach themselves.  I am still figuring out how to teach the Arrow units.

IEW Writing-I don’t know if I am teaching this “right.”  I went the economy route, and bought a really old version.  I have the CD’s that teach me how to teach it, but I don’t have the CD’s for the kids.  We are using the co-op schedule for All Things Fun and Fascinating. I really should have gone back and reviewed these CD’s last week for my own confidence in teaching.  I also need to watch myself that I don’t become a “slave” to the curriculum and the schedule that it suggests.  It is more important that the kids master each the writing skills that is presented than keeping the suggested schedule.  (I am going to write that again to keep it in the forefront of my mind… “It is more important that the kids master each of the writing skills that is presented than keeping the suggested schedule.”  There, hopefully that sticks!)

“It is more important that the kids master each of the writing skills that is presented than keeping the suggested schedule.”

All About Reading-If I have a homeschool regret in the last 7 years it would be NOT using this program from the beginning.  We are taking this so slow.  My kindergarten is only 5, and phonics do not come naturally to her.  Because of this I would rather wait another year to work on reading, but she so badly wants to learn to read.  Her attitude is really great so we are working together, making strides toward her development as a reader.  (Quirky commentary about this girl.  She picks out a chapter book from the library every time.  Then throughout the week she will sit down to read it-always with a bookmark.  She will sit for a period of time carefully “reading” each page and then mark her spot so that she can come back and continue “reading” the next day.  I wish I knew what was going through her head as she looks at page after page of words that she does not yet know how to decode!)

Sequential Spelling-My dyslexic son is using this.  We both like it for his situation.  He is reading well now and did NOT want to continue to use Barton, his Orton-Gillingham curriculum.  All About Spelling was confusing because it used a lot of the Orton-Gillingham method, but called the rules by different names.  This program does a good job of showing the patterns in words and builds gently in difficulty.  He is doing well within the spelling program itself.  I am hoping to see it cross over into his other writings.

First Language Lessons 2- My original plan had been to do the oral portion of these lessons all together in Morning Time, geared toward my 2nd grader but as a great review for my older two.  That worked swimmingly the first 5 weeks; then co-op started and two days a week different kids leave at 8:30 in the morning and Morning Time suffered a hard blow.  That leads me to my next conundrum…

Morning Time– Our Morning Time in August were great for the most part.  HSAP has thrown a huge monkey wrench into it.  Two or 3 days a week kids are coming and going for enrichment classes and/or field trips. For Morning Time this term we had planned to continue reading Who is God? And Can I really Trust Him?, Aesop’s Fables and replace our science reading with geography. Our memory work would be a new Bible passage, poem, hymns and creed as well as begin working memorizing the state and capitals.  Because I was apparently very optimistic I thought we’d try to throw some Latin in there as well.  (“Optimistic” or “senseless” pick your adjective.)   It is clear now that I need to rethink all this.

I need to have a full Morning Time option and an abbreviated Morning Time for days that we need to be out the door by 8:20 with lunches in hand.  So that is what I am working on the rest of the day.  What are the few things that bless us and need to be done, even in a time crunch and how can we loop the other subjects in a way that is fun and engaging?

What a great first term we had!  I really enjoyed looking back and seeing what really worked and needs to keep going and what needs to be tweaked as we move forward.  Time to go get ready for the next week!

Memorization and Morning Time Show & Tell

I have gotten a few emails following my Morning Time Plans post asking for a few more details on our morning time, group learning, memorization, and the like.  I thought that I would compile them in a FAQ post and attach a YouTube clip of our memory binder.

Where did you get your memorization binder?

I made it based on what we are currently studying.  We change out our memory work each term, and work in time for review.  (Our terms are 6 weeks long.)

What types of things are in your binder?

Our binder has our Bible memory passages, the poems that we are memorizing, our academic memory work (after compiling it for my kids I made it available as Relational Recitation) and the sheet music for the hymns we are learning.  You can take a peak at our memory binder here on YouTube.

How do you work memorization into your day?

We do memorization as part of our morning time.  That is one of the things I love most about morning time.  Now that we have created this time in our day to gather together, whenever I discover something that we could all benefit from learning I already have a place in our day for it.  For example, this year I wanted to do a composer study.  We will take one of our terms for a SQUILT classical music until.  (During that time we will not do geography or science.  We can’t do everything at once!)  Often the hardest part of adding something new is overcoming inertia and just getting it started.  If I have to get everyone gathered for recitation and then they all go do math, I have call them back for science.  Then they might split for spelling and I try to learn them back together again for Bible, and I’d spend all my morning starting and starting and starting again.  No thank you!

Do you do memorization with all of your kids?

Yes, we have Morning Time all together.  I would allow my preschoolers to skip, but they like to be where the action is. They paint with water, color or play with play-doh if we are at the table.  If we are having Morning Time in the family room they play with puzzles or blocks or do somersaults. (Honesty, folks!)

Sometimes it is best to keep the little ones close during morning time.  Left to themselves they tend to find amusement in all the wrong places!

Do all of your kids cooperate with morning time?

Sometimes.  Actually this question is quite humbly-timed today.  There was  a lot of fight back from the youngest two in the form of whining and trying to get the attention of the older ones.  (Someone may have purposefully dumped his water from paint with water directly onto the paper and we had to relocate to the family room.) Like just about everything in life we have our days!

I believed that morning time was going to be a blessing to us, but that meant that I had to work to establish it.  I will send an uncooperative child to listen from the stairs or to his bedroom.  I have taken a pretty strong stand that this is a profitable time for those who participate, and I cannot allow one person to ruin that for the rest of us.

Any tips for helping everyone enjoy morning time?

  1. START SMALL.  We have been having Morning Time for a few years now.  It is a little like juggling; start with a few balls, and when you’ve found your rhythm, add another ball.
  2. Use a time that you are already gathered-a regular story time, group study or even snack time.
  3. Plan things you know your kids will enjoy.  Our family loves music so our morning time involves singing.  We are reading from an Aesop’s Fables book each day.  My middle son picked our Bible passage for this term.
  4. Purposefully put variety into Morning Mime.   First we recite, then I read to them, then we sing. After that I might read again.  We waft back and forth from reciting (with movement if possible) and sitting to listen and then we go back to something more interactive.
  5. Make sure to break out of the mold once in a while.  Sometimes if things are getting a little mundane we take morning time outside or we have hot chocolate.  Once a week I try to  include a YouTube clip of a current event or of something that corresponds with our science chapter.  Every day does not need to be a treat, but adding something special every now and then is good for all of our spirits.

Morning Time At-A-Glance

Our Nature Encounter

“I am going to rock nature studies this year!  We are going on nature hikes and starting nature notebooks! This is the year we are going to get out there and learn outside!”

So I bought real sketch pads and expensive colored pencils. I got a book of Iowa plants and flowers to help us identify what grows naturally here.  Last week I scouted for great places near by for us to have nature hikes.  I found some about a half of a mile from our house.  No problem.  I will just get out the bike trailer.

This morning I told the kids, “Put on your hiking shoes and clothes we can get dirty in.  We are going to have some fun this morning!”  They were thrilled.  I was pretty sure that a nomination for “Mother of the Year” was going to be coming my way.

This is where I would insert pictures of the kids exploring and finding treasures amongst the woodland creatures.

Sadly, no such pictures exist.

First, It had been approximately 4 years since I last pulled the bike trailer.   I was fine but my children had little faith in my capabilities and kept yelling, “Slow down!  Do you know what you are doing?” Ridiculous.

We arrive at the hiking spot, parked our bikes and started hiking…for a whopping 30 seconds.  The rains that have gifted us lush, green yards also left ample breeding grounds for armies of mosquitos.  It took less than a minute for us to each get bit a half-dozen times and we high-tailed it back out of the trees and to our bikes.

I would not be beaten by these little bugs.  A quick ride back to the house for bug spray, and we’d be back in nature in no time.

“I’m hot!”

“Can we be done?”

“This is a the longest bike ride EVER.”

I sprayed them all down and rehydrated everyone. I could see that our enthusiasm was waning, and a compromise was in order.  We decided that we would get back on the bikes and ride to a much closer, smaller area with trees to look for treasures to bring back to the house to draw in our nature notebooks.

The boys took off exploring at once.  The girls and I followed more slowly behind.  The mosquitos were totally ignoring our repellent.  This trip was not fairing any better.

Then my daughter walked into a spider web…with her mouth open.  Complete Panic. I don’t know that I can adequately describe the flailing, the jumping, stomping, spitting, screaming and wailing.  It was epic.  Clearly she almost ate the spider and would probably die.

I called the boys back.  It was time to be done.  My youngest fell in the mud and kept yelling, “Bugs in my ears! Bugs in my ears”  And more than one of my children said, “I think we have had enough nature for the day.”

Earlier today I had posted a picture on Facebook of my 7-year-old eagerly completing two math lessons before 7:30 a.m.  If I share pictures of the good times it is only right that I also post the times like these when my great plans are eaten by mosquitos, and my children want to curse nature and die.


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Taxation and International Migration: Do High Tax Rates Cause Brain Drain?

November 2, 2015

Earlier this month, three economists released a new paper: “Taxation and the International Mobility of Inventors”. The paper has empirically confirmed that top marginal income taxes will chase away superstar inventors: highly-skilled contributors to the economy who have extremely valuable patents.

We keep hearing anecdotes on wealthy celebrities fleeing high tax territories for tax reasons. This has ignited heated public debate regarding taxation and the mobility of high earners. However, the academia has remained relatively silent on this issue due to the lack of international data.

Based on a unique data set for inventors from 8 OECD countries, the study finds that “there is negative correlation between the top marginal tax rate and the share of top quality foreign investors who locate in a country, as well as the share of top quality domestic inventors who remain in their home country.” The top 1% inventors are significantly affected by top marginal rates when deciding where to reside. Among these top 1% superstars, the foreign inventors, or ones who work for multinational companies, are more likely to take advantage of tax migration than domestic ones. The authors also point out that the cluster effect of research activity in a given company can dampen the impact of taxation.

High-skilled inventors are more mobile than general population in the literature; at the same time, they are key determinants of economic growth. As the authors highlighted, “this paper speaks to the relation between taxation and growth.” In the U.S., we have a high-skilled immigrants accounting for roughly 25% of the labor force in innovation and entrepreneurship. We have to make sure our tax climate is attractive enough to those economically innovative agents.

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Featured Article

What Rules Must the Agency Follow in Collecting Taxes?
Part of January 2017 Pilla Talks Taxes Special Report

As you read my other article* on the IRS’s intended use of private collection agencies (PCAs), you saw the clear limitations within the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) on the use of unfair, abusive and misleading collection actions by PCAs. You might have asked yourself whether the IRS is bound by the terms of the FDCPA. After all, the IRS is the most powerful and ubiquitous collection agency on the planet.

Certainly one would think that the FDCPA’s reasonable and logical limitations on abusive practices should apply to the IRS. Well, they don’t. The IRS—indeed any federal agency collecting it own debts—is exempt from the provisions of FDCPA. Instead, those agencies are bound by their own applicable statutes and regulations.

In the case of the IRS, the Internal Revenue Code dictates how the IRS may go about collecting delinquent taxes. The specific steps and governing rules are set forth at length in my book, How to Get Tax Amnesty. That said, the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 added code §6304, which is entitled, “Fair Tax Collection Practices.” That section lifts some of the provisions of the FDCPA and incorporates them directly into the Internal Revenue Code. As such, the limitations and prohibitions expressed in code §6304 are binding on all IRS employees in the act of collecting taxes.

Let’s examine them.

Communications With a Taxpayer

Section 6304(a) patterns FDCPA §1692d to some extent. Code §6304(a) provides that, “Without the prior consent of the taxpayer given directly to the Secretary or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, the Secretary may not communicate with a taxpayer” in the act of collecting an unpaid tax as follows:

1. At any unusual time or place, or a time or place known, or which should be known, to be inconvenient to the taxpayer. In the absence of knowledge to the contrary, the IRS shall assume that the convenient time for communicating with a taxpayer is after 8 a.m. and before 9 p.m., local time at the taxpayer’s location;

2. If the IRS knows the taxpayer is represented by counsel authorized to practice before the IRS and has knowledge of, or can readily ascertain such person’s name and address, unless counsel fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to a communication from the IRS, or unless counsel consents to direct communication with the taxpayer; or

3. At the taxpayer’s place of employment if the IRS knows or has reason to know that the taxpayer’s employer prohibits the taxpayer from receiving communications at work.

Prohibition on Harassment and Abuse

Internal Revenue Code §6304(b) patterns FDCPA §1692e. Code §6304 provides that the IRS “may not engage in any conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse any person in connection with the collection of any unpaid tax.” The non-exclusive list of prohibited actions is as follows:

1. The use or threat of the use of violence or other criminal means to harm the physical person, reputation, or property of any person;

2. The use of obscene or profane language or language the natural consequence of which is to abuse the hearer or reader;

3. Causing a telephone to ring or engaging any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with the intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number; and

4. Placing telephone calls without meaningful disclosure of the caller’s identity, as expressly required under the FDCPA, 1692c. See my discussion in the previous article*, under the subheading, “Rules for communicating with third parties to locate a debtor.” Section 7602(c) of the tax code addresses contacts with third parties. I discuss that below.

IRS Contacts with Third Parties

The FDCPA essentially prohibits contacts with third parties by PCAs, other than to attempt to locate a debtor. However, the IRS has no such limitations. It is allowed to contact third parties not only to locate a debtor, but to collect the tax. For example, third party contacts regularly come in the form of wage and bank levies, but also in the form of summonses for information, documents and records. The IRS routinely summonses banks, investment houses, brokerage firms, mortgage companies, etc., to obtain third party information in both civil audits and criminal investigations.

Other than the general prohibition against disclosing confidential information under §6103, the only other proviso regarding third party contacts is found in code §7602(c)(1). This section prohibits the IRS from contacting any third party in connection with “the determination or collection of any tax” unless the IRS first provides “reasonable notice in advance to the taxpayer that contacts with persons other than the taxpayer may be made.” This notice is provided in the form of language included in the agency’s collection notices, stating that it may contact third parties in connection with the case.

Section 7602(c)(2) states that the IRS “shall periodically provide to a taxpayer a record of persons contacted. . .by the Secretary with respect to the determination or collection of the tax liability of such taxpayer. Such record shall also be provided upon request of the taxpayer.”

While there is an affirmative duty in the statute to provide a list to the taxpayer of who the IRS contacted, I have never seen the IRS provide such a list unless on was requested. Therefore, the only real way to know whether contacted anybody, and whom it may have contacted, is to request such a list under the authority of this statute and the Freedom of Information Act.

Civil Action for Violations of Law

The FDCPA allows a person victimized by violations of any provision of the Act to sue a PCA for such violation. No such relief is available under the FDCPA regarding violations of law by the IRS. However, Internal Revenue Code §7433 allows taxpayers to sue the IRS if “any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service recklessly or intentionally, or by reason of negligence disregards any provision of this title, or any regulation promulgated under this title” while in the act of collecting taxes.

The relief available under the tax code is substantially greater than that which is available under the FDCPA. Code §7433(b) provides that if an IRS employee is found liable for violating any provision of the tax code or regulations in the act of collecting taxes, the victim may recover the lesser of:

            1. $1,000,000 in the case of any deliberate reckless or intentional violation of the tax law,

            2. $100,000 in the case of mere negligence leading to a violation of the tax law, or

            3. The sum of: a) the actual, direct economic damages sustained by the taxpayer as a proximate result of the reckless or intentional or negligent actions of the IRS employee, and, b) the costs of the action.

Chapter 12 of my Taxpayer’s Defense Manual discusses code §7433 at length, giving examples of lawsuits to recover damages for unlawful collection actions by IRS employees. That chapter also discusses the requirement to engage in and exhaust all administrative remedies before pursuing the judicial remedy, and the need to mitigate damages or risk a reduction of the award to the extent of any failure to do so.

While it is true that the FDCPA does not apply to or bind the IRS in any way, the Internal Revenue Code certainly does. The individual code sections mentioned above, along with the plethora of legal authority set forth in How to Get Tax Amnesty and the Taxpayers’ Defense Manual, provide ample to both prevent and cure IRS abuse in the collection process.

Moreover, with the addition of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights as a statement of statutory rights under the code and the affirmative duty of the IRS Commissioner to ensure that IRS employees are familiar with and act in accordance with those rights, we have substantial leverage against IRS abuse.

The Taxpayer Bill of Rights

For further reference and review, I again present the Taxpayer Bill of Rights as set forth in Internal Revenue Code §7803(a)(3).

1. The right to be informed,

2. The right to quality service,

3. The right to pay no more than the correct amount of tax,

4. The right to challenge the position of the IRS and be heard,

5. The right to appeal a decision of the IRS in an independent forum,

6. The right to finality,

7. The right to privacy,

8. The right to confidentiality,

9. The right to retain representation, and

10. The right to a fair and just tax system. .

* Refers to first article in the full Special Report issue of Pilla Talks Taxes January 2017.

Article taken from January 2016 Special Report  issue of "Pilla Talks Taxes."

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The Last Jedi will go down in history as a very divisive movie. Most either liked it or hated it. Recently it came to my attention that a group of individuals have proposed that the film should be completely remade. This is highly to unlikely to happen. But it got me thinking; what would I change about the movie?

The Last Jedi is not a perfect movie. I personally found the film to be decent. But people expect more than just ‘decent’ from a Star Wars movie. I still think that Disney is playing it too safe, and everything felt too calculated, too soulless, and too corporate. In my opinion, that’s how you usually end up with movies that are just decent.

*Spoilers for The Last Jedi ahead. But no spoilers for Solo: A Star Wars Story, since I haven’t seen it*

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Canto Bight; they really needed to trim some fat off of that whole arc. I think that even people who enjoyed the movie a lot can agree that, at the very least, they could have edited that down. It was also pretty messed up how that entire adventure ended up being so unnecessary. Perhaps there could have been a different reason for them to send a team there, but may require altering something else...

Admiral Holdo. This character can still be in the movie, but I still think that it should have been Admiral Ackbar taking command. I really didn’t like seeing that character get taken out like trash. They deemed him to be such a worthless character that they pretty much just killed him off-screen.

It made me think of how Boba Fett was ‘killed’ in Return of the Jedi. Thankfully it left enough room for other writers to conceive of a way of him surviving. But for Ackbar they decided to do their utmost to make sure nothing can explain his survival. Star Wars does have a track record of killing of beloved characters in cheap ways. Original trilogy, Boba Fett. Prequel trilogy, General Grievous. New trilogy, Admiral Ackbar. Maybe Rian Johnson was just trying to keep the tradition alive.

If Ackbar had taken command than I would advocate for Holdo to have more of an arc. I’d like to see her stay alive and reappear in the following movie. Maybe Ackbar makes the sacrifice and now Holdo has to take over, struggle with the realities of leading the entire resistance, grow, and ultimately overcome those struggles to turn into the leader that the resistance needs. The last thing they need is someone who withholds crucial information for no reason. It’s organisations like the First Order that demands blind obedience. Speaking of which…

I still don’t know what Snoke or the First Order even wanted. Power for the sake of it? Did they have any ideology at all? What drove so many people to join them to begin with? Some have told me that Snoke wanted to rule the galaxy. But such a thing is just a means to an end, same with destroying opposition, like the Jedi. Darth Sidious’ main goal was that of the Sith, revenge upon the Jedi. Revenge going all the way back to the exiled dark Jedi who found the Sith species and ruled over them as the lords of the sith. Once Palpatine controlled the government, he left the governing to his dark council.

But Snoke seemed like he just did things for the hell of it. He certainly wasn’t Sith, he wasn’t following their teachings. Now he’s dead, and not only may we never know what his motivations were, they might be entirely meaningless now. Unless Kylo is used to show us Snoke’s teachings. Snoke must have taught him more than just combat and force powers, right?

I wish Luke was able to convince Rey that the Jedi are nothing more than puppets of the force with a flawed and dangerous religion. Not to say that the individual can’t do enormous good. But as a large, organized group, they are ultimately ineffectual and cause great harm to the galaxy.

Rey is not a Jedi and there’s no reason that she should be trained as one. After all, you don’t have to be Jedi to learn how to use the force. Even the Jedi originated from a different group. The title changed, since how they functioned changed. Order 66 proved that it was time for another change. Luke never should have resurrected the Jedi.

I wish Luke Skywalker had looked Kylo Ren right in his eyes and said: “I will be the last Jedi. But not the last hope.”

I saw a very good video on the YouTube channel “Nando v Movies” about the character Rose. The video argued that it only takes rewriting one aspect of that character to improve the film. Rose should have been a spy for the First Order. Some very compelling arguments are presented that makes certain events throughout the film make a lot more sense. You can see it here. But what do you think, dear reader. Love it, hate it, or “meh” it, what do you think could have improved the Last Jedi?

Papito Qinn is into the whole YouTube thing, is the winner of the 2016 SpookTAYcular Scary Story Contest, and a twitter incompetent. “I laugh at your disagreement. Laugh, I say!”


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Yala’s new chatbot knows the best time to post to social networks

Need to post content to multiple social networks at the same time? A new chatbot called Yala wants to help. The bot, live now on Slack with Facebook Messenger support coming soon, not only does the work of posting for you, it’s also intelligent enough to know when to post. That is, Yala uses algorithms and machine learning to determine the best time to post in order to increase your exposure and receive better engagement on the items you’re sharing.

The idea for the bot comes from Gary Levitt, who previously sold his email marketing startup Mad Mimi to GoDaddy back in 2014. Afterwards, he attempted to enter the e-commerce space with an online storefront service Pinecone, but says he had trouble getting it off the ground. That led to the pivot to Yala instead – something that addressed a problem Levitt faced himself while building Pinecone.

“I was dissatisfied with Buffer, and its less impressive competitors, because multi-channel posting took time,” explains Levitt, “especially when it came to scheduling across many channels, editing, choosing times and composing,” he says.

Buffer, by way of background, is a social media scheduling service, which also offers tools that help you determine the best time to publish.

However, with Yala, the idea is to bring a similar sort of intelligence a bit “closer to home,” says Levitt – meaning, Slack.

[gallery ids="1382365,1382364"]

To determine the best time to post, Yala looks at your social media posting history to determine which times and posts led to the most shares, likes and clicks. It also takes into account things like time zones and other audience behaviors. Plus, the machine learning aspect enables it to improve and automatically correct itself on the fly, given your own social media engagement metrics.

By being able to identify patterns, it’s able to create a posting schedule that refines itself in real-time, Levitt says.

The team saw a 10 percent increase in shares and posts when they used Yala, during testing. (Yala, in case you’re curious, is a slang term in Israel, borrowed from Arabic, which means “get a move on.”)

Currently, the bot works with Facebook and Twitter, and is live on Slack. Additional platforms and social networks are in development now.

Yala is a bootstrapped team of three, and is based in both New York and Israel.


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How to fix FULLSCREEN resolution problem in NieR: Automata?

This article will be related to the FULLSCREEN resolution problem in NieR:Automata™. Every player that have awaited this game may have faced with such an FULLSCREEN resolution problem after its release. Actually it doesn’t matter where the problem lies, the only possible solution for 111 is just presented here. So, don’t be shy! Use it for great playing and share it with your friends in case they have the same issue with FULLSCREEN resolution problem in NieR:Automata™.

  1. Download Borderless gaming software.
  2. Run it and enjoy the game it was meant to look.

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When you register a domain, you are requested to provide an authentic address, email account and phone in accordance with the policies approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This info, however, is not kept only by the registrar, but is available to the general public on WHOIS lookup sites too, so anyone can see your information and lots of people may not be okay with that fact. As a result, many domain registrars have come up with the so-called Whois Privacy Protection service, which conceals the registrant’s contact information and upon a WHOIS lookup, people will view the details of the domain registrar, not those of the domain owner. This service is also called Privacy Protection or Whois Privacy Protection, but all these expressions refer to one and the same service. Now, most of the TLDs around the globe allow Whois Privacy Protection to be enabled, but there are still country-code extensions that do not support this option.

Whois Privacy Protection in Shared Website Hosting

If you’ve ordered a shared website hosting from us and you have registered one or more domain names under your account, you’ll be able to enable Whois Privacy Protection for any of them without effort and to keep your private details secure. Of course, this will be possible only with the extensions that support this service. In your Hepsia Control Panel, you will see an “Whois Privacy Protection” logo to the right of each of your domains. Its color will inform you whether a domain name is Whois Privacy Protected or not and in the second case, you can enable Whois Privacy Protection with only a couple of mouse clicks. Thus, you can protect your private info even if you have not added the Whois Privacy Protection service during the hosting account order process. You’ll be able to renew or to disable the Whois Privacy Protection service for any of your domain names just as easily.

Whois Privacy Protection in Semi-dedicated Servers

If you have a semi-dedicated server account with us and you register a domain name under it, you can activate our Whois Privacy Protection service easily. This takes just several clicks of the mouse in the Hepsia Control Panel’s Registered Domains section, through which you manage everything related to your semi-dedicated hosting account. This is where you can see all your domains and for each of them you will find an “Whois Privacy Protection” logo, using which you can enable, renew or remove the Whois Privacy Protection service. Of course, this will be possible only with generic and country-specific domain extensions that support this option and you’ll be able to see this in advance, so you will not end up buying a service that we cannot provide.


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Charles vs lamb to the slaughter

Some feminists continued to oppose male-controlled contraceptives such as condoms. My contention is not that ancient people were stupid, but that they were very superstitious. On the other hand, the 6, Jews that he condemned to death, and who by default failed to accept Christ, were sent to Hell.

Men will think they have freedom to do as they please, but find themselves with no mind of their own, dominated by the beast and by their flesh. From my perspective, God cannot be completely contained within nature, and therefore God's existence is outside of science's ability to really weigh in.

The European Union is the world's largest lamb consumer and number one importer of lamb, whereas 99 percent of the lamb imported originates from Australia and New Zealand. Food and Drug Administration began to regulate the quality of condoms sold in the United States. Scientists don't do that.

That in no way compromises my ability to think rigorously as a scientist. This is the point of Revelation It is interesting however, that within the identification numbers of various agencies, the IRS and others, the number is beginning to pop up more and more.

Thus, he is called the beast tJhrion because Satan, the dragon is his master cf. This gives it the appearance of life. Weller ended up deleting the Twelve Visions Party. I don't see the Olympian gods or Jesus coming down and dying on the Cross as worthy of that grandeur. More will be said on the book of life later in this study of Revelation.

Private sperm donors may also use a collection condom to obtain samples through masturbation or by sexual intercourse with a partner and will transfer the ejaculate from the collection condom to a specially designed container. Condom" or "Earl of Condom". Can Darwinian evolution withstand the criticisms of Christians who believe that it contradicts the creation account in the Book of Genesis?

Also, as Newell points out: Please note, this also becomes the means of identifying the beast for who and what he is to the remnant of true believers.

Effectiveness of various methods The effectiveness of condoms, as of most forms of contraceptioncan be assessed two ways. Published init describes what is possibly the first use of condoms. But God will give up the whole earth, except His elect, for three and one-half years to this direful scene of Revelation In total, they lay out a convincing case that Christianity is untrue.

Some will survive, however, by living off the land or because other believers who have food share with those who do not cf.

The land beast operates under the authority of the sea beast and is totally committed to promoting not himself, but the first beast.As befits a story dealing with appearances and reality, much of “Lamb to the Slaughter” is told through details that Dahl carefully selects and arranges into various patterns to.

Greg Hunter’s (Early Release). Mark Taylor, author of the wildly popular book “The Trump Prophecies,” correctly predicted, early on, a victory by Donald Trump to win the White House.

Taylor is a retired firefighter that has become an unlikely prophet of God, who contends “President Trump is God’s anointed.”. Browse Artists Alphabetically Artist Names Beginning Complete List A-Z: Maria A'Becket - American Painter Hans von Aachen - German Painter Alvar Aalto - Finnish Architect Magdalena Abakanowicz - Polish Sculptor Masseot Abaquesne - French Potter Riza-i Abbasi - Persian Painter Louise Abbema - French Painter Edwin Austin Abbey - American Illustrator/Muralist Berenice Abbott - American.

Dear Twitpic Community - thank you for all the wonderful photos you have taken over the years. We have now placed Twitpic in an archived state. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. The Lamb to the slaughter story is about a couple who seemingly had a happy marriage.

Lamb to the Slaughter Themes

Until one day her husband comes home and discovers that the marriage is over. Incensed, she hits him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb!

Charles vs lamb to the slaughter
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Program to write arabic calligraphy

The course integrates instruction in reading, writing, listening, grammar, vocabulary, and conversation. Mohammed Hassar, MD, Health Counselor Mohammed is an internist, clinical pharmacologist, and emeritus professor at Rabat Medical School, from which he graduated in She joined the Center for Cross Cultural Learning in as an Arabic instructor and became language coordinator in The family is the center of life in Morocco.

To learn about different kinds of straight pens, you can read this blog post. Please try again later. The numeric sequence reflects that order. He has been involved with SIT in Morocco since the late s.

But that's not all! Before you use your nibs, you should clean the oils off. Chefchaouen Travel to the inland mountain town of Chefchaouen, known for its striking blue buildings, and spend time exploring on your own.

Ali Baba International Center is located the neighborhood of the university of Jordan, which has a population of 40, students. Kufic was the first Arabic script to be made consciously beautiful. Uh Oh There was a problem with your submission.

I've taken everything I've learned from teaching more than 5, students, instructing a bestseller Udemy course with more than a hundred 5-star reviews, holding tens of calligraphy workshops around the world, and channeled it into a comprehensive, step-wise program that will not only teach you all the relevant content, but will also guide you every step of the way on staying persistent and achieving your artistic goals.

Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. It can be flat-edged can be made of bamboo or rounded tip pen or can be brush. Tuition fees may vary for students based on your home college's or university's billing policies with SIT.

To clarify this, I will briefly describe the respective history of these two families and explain their fundamental differences. To reduce your price, register for a free demo, sign up for our newsletters and you'll just might receive an invitation to survey.

This is entirely optional!

30+ Perfectly Crafted Arabic & Islamic Calligraphy Logo Design Examples

They influenced the Greeks a lot, who later on developed their own kind of writing which by BC the Romans had adapted to suit the Latin language. This created consistency and harmony in the script, and, just as the invention of glass blowing changed the course of glassmaking, this put calligraphy on a new track—no comparable advances have been made since stop and think about this: You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind.

A private bedroom, plus two meals per day. Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources. As a language professor and civic activist, he feels that learning languages and participating in community service contribute to better communication between people.

eCalligraphy Discounts

Published 7th May No special promotions at the moment Unfortunately, you've missed your chance to reduce your eCalligraphy price.

The course focuses on ethics and the cross-cultural experience as well as on methods of fieldwork study and of writing an academic paper. A poetic tradition says these are angelic letters, because they are attached to their origin God but detached from what follows the world. Put yarn in the inkwell to soak up program to write arabic calligraphy ink so that you don't put too much on the pen.

This includes during orientation, time in the program base Rabaton all excursions, and during the evaluation period. The course is an academically directed, for-credit, training program through which students gain practical work experience as a volunteer under both academic and professional supervision and guidance.

Internet URLs are the best. Shiraz Rehmani Alhamdulillah if it wasn't for this course, I would forever remain scared of holding a qalam and attempting any sort of calligraphy whatsoever. While all meals and accommodations are covered in the room and board fee, incidentals and personal transportation costs differ depending on the non-program-related interests and pursuits of each student.

The letters of the alphabet were now magical beings since they were capable of holding and preserving the divine Word.Then simply type your name below and our free tool will translate it and write in Arabic alphabet, and in the Arab or Islamic calligraphy style of your choice *.

* Note: please note that it is a transcription into Arabic alphabet of the names phonetics. Please help us by uploading beautiful traditional pieces of Islamic Calligraphy (we prefer classical Islamic calligraphy rather than modern calligraphic art by Muslims).

Make a gift of truth and beauty to the world in sha Allah. The newly-released TPK Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course starts by teaching you faux calligraphy.

All TPK printable calligraphy worksheet sets also starts with a faux calligraphy section! It’s a great way to start because you become familiar with letterforms without having to navigate a. Yamli is the easiest way to write Arabic without an Arabic keyboard.

Yamli is smart: it understands the way you type. Transform your handwriting or calligraphy into a font! Creating your own font has never been easier. With your own font you can create genuine personal designs and calligraphic artwork. The Art of Arabic Calligraphy, Claremont McKenna College Calligraphy is the art of beautiful, stylized, and elegant handwriting or lettering with pen or brush and ink.

It involves the correct formation of characters, the ordering of the various parts, and the harmony of proportions.

Program to write arabic calligraphy
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