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Posted on October 12, 2015 October 12, 2015 by dnwrites
The sophomores were having trouble with the Monday morning news quiz. In the first three weeks, only two students had passed even once, and a passing grade here is only 60. It's not as if the questions were obscure or they didn't understand English. The stories had been all over the media: "Why did a 3-year-old Syrian boy make the news this week?" "How are Central European countries reacting to the refugee crisis?" "What big mistake did the Egyptian military make last week?"
It's bad enough that they were flunking the quizzes, but they also weren't learning anything. "Why are you majoring in international journalism if you don't pay attention to the news?" I asked. Two dozen blank faces stared back. So I took another tack: "Next week, I'm making you responsible for the quiz. We'll have a news meeting."
The class would become a news organization, most likely a website, based in Guangzhou but aimed at an international audience. I would be the chief editor; the students would form teams representing six news departments. They would propose stories for home-page consideration; I would choose seven or eight and explain why.
A week later, it wasn't exactly the Page 1 meeting at The New York Times (from which this exercise is admittedly cribbed), but it was a start. Having budgeted half the class, 45 minutes, I pushed the meeting along much as a pressed-for-time masthead editor at The Times would have, by barking out questions: "What do you have on the two shootings after the Oregon shootings?" (More blank faces.) "What's your next story?" "What else have you got?" The students wrote too much information on the whiteboard, talked to the board instead of the class, and humbly recited their stories instead of selling them. Well, they're sophomores; they haven't sat through those Page 1 meetings yet. But at least they were paying attention. At the end, I asked if they wanted to continue with news meetings or go back to the traditional quizzes. Silly question.
Here at Jinan University, I am literally starting from scratch. After three years of coaching graduate students at CUNY, many of whom arrived with significant professional experience, I'm back to undergraduates, teaching their first professional courses in the new international journalism program. One of the most important lessons I can teach them is that a journalist must be adaptable. I had to adapt a teaching method that wasn't working. They have to adapt themselves to so much more: a new classroom style, professional expectations, a new way of looking at the world.
"How many lectures a week do you have?" other foreign experts here have asked. "Four," I answer, but it's hard to think of them as lectures. I teach three courses, each two hours a week, to roughly the same group of sophomores. (I also have one bubbly class of freshmen for oral English.) The courses make a nice balance in subject matter and work, for all of us.
"English News Gathering and Writing I" is what the title says: an introduction to who-what-when-where-why, inverted pyramid and basic reporting techniques, like asking questions and getting the facts straight. When I took the equivalent, called Journ 213 at Penn State circa 1973, we met in a lab room with typewriters nailed to the desks and had assignments like covering town council meetings. Here we meet in a lecture classroom, and I doubt if any Chinese government body would welcome 25 note-taking undergraduates to whatever public meetings it holds. Still, through classroom exercises and homework, they're learning — some the hard way — about organizing information, meeting deadlines and not plagiarizing. (First lesson: a PBS documentary on Jayson Blair.) Like the news meetings, it's a start. The final project will be a fully reported story, 1,000-word minimum, considered a long story in Craft I at CUNY.
"Survey of English-Speaking Countries" is my most lecture-like course, and much the same as I've taught in Hunan and Poland: social studies on the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Through lectures, readings and videos, I hope to give a taste of what it's like to live in these countries and look at them from a journalist's point of view. Grading is based on three written exams, two take-homes and a closed-book final.
Having spent little time editing foreign news since The Boston Globe in 1980,
I felt relatively unqualified to teach "International News Comparison and Analysis," but I'm making it up as I go along. It now consists of half news meeting/quiz, half close reading and discussion of current news texts; with luck and a little tech support (ha!), I hope to Skype in two guest speakers with foreign reporting backgrounds. Class participation, i.e., the news meetings, makes up a big chunk of the grade; the final project will be an essay, five pages minimum, analyzing media coverage of an international issue during the semester.
While teaching journalism, I'm also teaching a little ESL and basic Western presentation skills, like projecting the voice and speaking confidently, rather than mumbling into a notebook, and not standing in front of the material on the board or slides. For that reason, the students spend a lot of time on their feet in front of the class. It's a new experience, I think, for most of them.
On Pearl TV from Hong Kong the other night, I caught the finale of "The School That Turned Chinese," a BBC series about a British secondary school that imported Chinese teachers for four weeks to test whether their far more demanding methods produced better results. In this case, they did, in the form of test scores – which, as American educators should know by now, are no definitive measure of learning. One of my "takeaways" — that's teacher talk for the basic message students take away from a given lesson – was that Chinese education stresses conformity, becoming a good citizen to serve the country. That may help explain my students' hesitation to speak up and stand out. But it's the opposite of what it takes to be an international journalist.
That said, some are already showing promise. I pride myself on being able to spot early on who's going to make it in journalism and who's not. (I spotted AP's Jerry Schwartz, recently celebrated on jimromenesko.com, the first night he dropped off his copy – on paper — at The Daily Collegian.) Among my sophomores, I can see at least two students with serious CUNY potential, in four or five years. They're smart; they ask good questions; they speak and write English well; some are already engaged in entrepreneurialism.
And they're digital natives. They may not carry laptops everywhere, but they use their phones as extensions of their brains: as dictionaries, research tools, references when they present to the class. Sometimes they take notes by photographing the whiteboard. They know every news app in existence, even The Times's new bilingual digest on WeChat, which their government has theoretically blocked. They've already been there, read that.
Of course, their chief editor is still Old Lady Print Journalist. At the news meetings, I select seven or eight stories for a front page or home page, as if the news hole were still finite and mattered. Chinese students generally save their real, burning questions for after class, and on Saturday the ever-perceptive Bonnie came up to ask, "How important is that, when we have all these apps that know what we want to read, and our phones know us better than we know ourselves?" Good point, I said, and please raise that question on Monday. She had just given me another lesson plan. Thanks, Bonnie.
Saturday was a makeup for a class missed during the Golden Week holiday, to be followed by the regularly scheduled class – and news meeting — just two days later. "We have to do it again?" the sophomores groaned. Gently, I explained that when they're out of school and working in the media, they'll have to perform at news meetings (and produce a publication) every day. That's another of the lessons I hope they're learning.
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Net Worth: $1.5 Million
Net Worth > Business > Lawyers
Salary: $140,000 For Depp Trial
Real Name: Camille Vasquez
Date of Birth: 1st June 1984
Profession: Lawyer
Who is Camille Vasquez
Camille Vasquez and the Johnny Depp Trial
Camille Vasquez and Johnny Depp Dating Rumors
Exciting Facts About Camille Vasquez
Camille Vasquez Net Worth:
Camille Vasquez's Salary
$140,000 For Depp Trial
Who is Camille Vasquez and what is Camille Vasquez net worth? It would appear as if her name were positively everywhere in recent days. All major news outlets, web media organizations, and social media are abuzz with this young woman, but why is she so popular? You need to know that Camille Vasquez is Johnny Depp's lawyer, and thanks to her charisma and outward appearance, she has gained a following of her own online. But the one thing we all want to know is, what is Camille Vasquez's net worth?
Thanks to tackling numerous high-profile cases for clientele known far and wide, Camille Vasquez has accumulated an extensive net worth over the years. As of this writing, the interesting Camille Vasquez net worth is $1.5 million.
How does Camille Vasquez earn her income for such an extensive net worth? Most of her income stems from her role at Brown Rudnick LLP as an associate attorney. That being said, Vasquez is tight-lipped about her finances overall. She has yet to share any other sources openly.
Will her net worth rise in the coming months or years? Absolutely!
With the case between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard broadcasted globally on major social media platforms and news websites, her ability as an attorney is at the forefront.
If she can secure a win for Depp, and they firmly believe they will prevail in the coming days, the chances are high that other famous and wealthy clientele will come out of the woodwork to hire Ms. Vasquez. If that does happen, you can bet her annual salary will increase drastically, along with her already-extensive net worth profile.
Camille Vasquez, the 37-year-old attorney representing Johnny Depp in his recent defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard, is a legal associate at Brown Rudnick—a high-profile law firm based in Orange County, California.
Vasquez specializes in litigation and arbitration, focusing on defamation cases—like Johnny Depp's current case—and has a winning track record thus far.
In 2006, Vasquez graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California. In 2010, she graduated from Southwestern Law School.
In 2021-2022, The Best Lawyers named her "One to Watch" due to her high-profile cases, ability to speak fluent Spanish, and charm in the courtroom.
As an associate attorney, Camille Vasquez, specifically concerning the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial, was only a single part of the extensive legal team handling Depp's side of the situation. Despite the team nature of the trial, Vasquez built a reputation and following for her sole abilities in the courtroom.
From the very beginning of the courtroom scene, she questioned witnesses on the stand. But, it was during Amber Heard's cross-examination that Vasquez truly began to shine online. She went toe-to-toe with the actress, holding nothing back on the stand.
When she wasn't cross-examining Heard on the stand, Vasquez would toss out objections and prevent Heard from speaking. Most of these objections were sustained by presiding Judge Penney Azcarate, which led to even further praise for Vasquez for her aggressive trial tactics.
At the time of this writing, clips of the objections have accumulated nearly 20 million views in under 24 hours. The tag #CamilleVasquez has accumulated over 500 million views on the platform.
Online, she's now dubbed a "badass" and "queen" from a growing social media following.
Elsewhere, other lawyers are taking notice. One called Vasquez the "unrivaled star" of the trial.
Of course, like most celebrity ordeals online, fans like to talk and gossip. Previously, rumors spread far and wide that Camille Vasquez and Johnny Depp were dating during the then-ongoing trial. A hug in court went viral, sparking said rumors.
According to reports by multiple news organizations, that's not the case, though. The two have a strictly working relationship, with no foreseeable plans to take up any romance together.
Like most of you, we're curious to know more about this shining star attorney representing Johnny Depp. Camille Vasquez appears as an enigma. She's quiet about her social life, mum about her finances, and strictly professional on most matters.
Still, here are a few exciting facts about Camille Vasquez for the more curious amongst us.
Vasquez spends a great deal of her time focused on work, even in her off-hours, and throws her entire being into her legal career. As such, she's gaining attention as an astute attorney, and her rising net worth proves it, too.
Camille proves extremely quiet about her social life. She does not share romantic relationships online, and she does not discuss social engagements, etc. It's rare these days to find someone who doesn't post images and announcements to social media regularly.
Camille hails from a reputable family. Her father, Leonel Vasquez, is an entrepreneur and the founder of Lemacash Group. Her mother, Maria Marilia Vasquez, is a stay-at-home mother. Her sister, Shari K. Vasquez, the youngest of the two, is a general pediatrician.
She routinely tackles multimillion-dollar defamation cases caused by highly-publicized ordeals between the rich and famous of California.
She successfully prosecuted not one but two breaches of fiduciary cases for a high-profile client in the past.
Despite newscasters reporting otherwise, Vasquez refused to comment when asked whether or not she was dating Depp. Instead, she giggled at the question and walked away from the reporter.
People want to know whether Camille Vasquez's husband exists, but she's listed as "single" whenever profiles appear online. We can only take that to mean she's free to mingle romantically.
There you have it! An extensive look at Camille Vasquez net worth, a little about her background, and a look at where the rising star attorney may go after this defamation lawsuit concludes.
Camille Vasquez FAQs
What is Camille Vasquez Net Worth?
Camille Vasquez net worth is currently $1.5 million USD.
How much money does Camille Vasquez earn?
Camille Vasquez earns $140,000 for depp trial from various sources.
How tall is Camille Vasquez?
Camille Vasquez is 5 ft 6 in (1.67 m)
How old is Camille Vasquez?
Camille Vasquez is currently 38 years old.
When is Camille Vasquez birthday?
Camille Vasquez birthday is on 1st June.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Court plea deal agreements upsetting some families
by: April Thompson
Memphis, Tenn. — They are the deals that courts are made of, plea deals negotiated to keep a case from ever going to trial.
But many times plea deals leave victims feeling victimized again.
WREG has been digging into the problem and shows why some say it's contributing to growing crime.
Thousands of cases go through Shelby County Criminal Court at 201 Poplar every year. But you may be surprised almost none of them ever go to trial.
"The vast majority of cases are negotiated and guilty pleas entered," says Defense attorney Leslie Ballin. He has 40 years of criminal law under his belt, but admits only 2% of the cases his office handles every year reach trial.
"When I consult with clients and tell them this is what you are facing if convicted at a trial. This is what your offer is. It`s your choice," says Ballin.
But a trial is what some 'victims' want.
"We have not grieved for our son. We have been fighting all this time," says Tara Thomas. Her 22-year-old son Christopher was shot and killed in February of 2015.
Two brothers were arrested within days, but for two years it was back and forth in court.
"They said they were gonna take a plea deal. We disagreed. The first plea deal the driver was gonna walk," says Thomas.
Then minutes before court the prosecutor announced another plea.
"She called us into a small room and told us what the plea was. We are going with 15 years and that`s it. At 100%. Yes we were upset. We did not agree with it," says Thomas.
The D.A.s Office went forward with the plea…giving brothers Roderick and Martel Frison 15 year sentences.
"It makes me feel very angry. It`s not fair to the families to not have any say so in these plea deals," says Thomas.
Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich, says out of the 180,000 to 200,000 cases the D.A. handles every year, pleas are the norm.
"The large majority of the cases are resolved by guilty plea. We only try about 160 to 200 jury trials every year," says Weirich.
She says sometimes there isn't enough proof to convict.
"We may have the greatest case in the world on paper. But when we start trying to track down witnesses and get them to come down here and testify to what they saw and heard it's a different story if they don't want to cooperate," says Weirich.
Defense attorneys get an earful on plea deals too when their clients want to go to trial.
"He had been asking for an evidentiary hearing. He has been asking to go to trial," says D`Lynne Colbert. Her son Mario is in jail for a 2016 shooting at Country Squire Apartments.
Police say he, Jalen Harvey and Aaron Marr walked into a party and Marr started shooting into the air. An 18 year old was hit by a bullet and died.
Colbert`s son says he never fired a bullet.
"You have no witnesses saying that my son shot anything. Why wouldn`t he not go to trial? Especially if he didn`t do it. And nobody is saying that e done it. His own co-defendants are saying he didn`t do it," says Colbert.
Now she says the D.A and even her son's lawyer is putting pressure on her son to take a plea to serve 13 years.
"He is saying no I am not gonna sign for that mama because I didn`t do it. He says he wants to go to trial. I didn`t kill anybody," says Colbert.
Mario Colbert`s attorney wouldn't discuss his case and wouldn't comment when we asked if he was pushing Colbert to plea.
Attorney Micheal Working, who isn't representing any clients mentioned here, says defendants have the final say in a plea.
"Ethically only the defendant can make a decision to accept a plea deal or go to trial. Not the lawyer," says Working. "I have had 3 murder cases in the last two years where the family rejected my client going to prison for 15 years. They rejected it and demanded a trial. We went to trial and my client was found not guilty and did no time in prison."
One recent plea deal sentence was the 30 years Sherra Wright got for facilitating the murder of her ex-husband basketball standout Lorenzen Wright.
She will only have to do 30% of that before she is eligible for parole. With time served and good behavior she could get out in roughly 9-10 years.
In court everyone was said to be in agreement.
But listen to Lorenzen Wright's mom, Deborah Marion, now.
"That is insane to me. It don`t make no sense. This plea stuff is like killing you all over again. You still ain`t got no relief," says Marion. "You can`t tell me 30 years on the phone and then come tell me she might be eligible for parole in 7."
Deborah Marion says she would have taken her chances on a trial.
"They don`t understand. I ain`t gonna ever have my son on earth here with me no more. So how am I gonna walk around with her with a chance of getting out?" says Marion in tears.
District Attorney Amy Weirich says families are told the number of years given are rarely the number of years actually served because inmates get multiple days credit for each day they are locked up.
"To me it underscores how great the need is for this to be clearer for this to be simple and for this to be truthful for victims and for all of society," says Weirich. She says there needs to be a change in state law.
Tara Thomas is also now speaking to groups about how the legal system needs changes.
"If we really want the crime to end maybe we should stop making these plea deals and give stiffer penalties. We know we were done wrong. The justice system failed us. They failed us horribly," says Thomas.
A local organization called 'Always Giving Back' is pushing to get a local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children in Memphis.
They say it would help families understand the legal process and things like plea deals.


Here's a metal flower i made. the petals and leaves are u bolts that i bent in a vise, i welded the petals onto a large washer and welded an iron water valve knob onto that for the center part. the stem is made out of a 4 foot long 3/4" bolt. and the spike that goes into the ground is made out of a ford mowing machine blade. if any more info is needed leave a comment and I'll try and help as best i can.
This is pretty great. Did you use an enamel paint?
thanks for the comment and yes i used RustOleum spray paint.


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Overcast. Areas of patchy fog. Low around 35F. Winds light and variable..
Overcast. Areas of patchy fog. Low around 35F. Winds light and variable.
The city of Arlington's active COVID-19 case count from March 30, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2020.
Courtesy Image
County sees drop in COVID cases
Christopher Andersson
COVID-19 case rates in Snohomish County began dropping for the first time since September and the vaccine rollout has begun locally, local officials report.
The two-week average for the daily case rate per 100,000 people reached 330 as of the Dec. 26 report from the Snohomish Health District, down from a height of 444 just a couple of weeks ago.
"That coupled with the arrival of the first COVID vaccines in the county are definitely promising signs," said Dr. Chris Spitters, Health Officer with the Snohomish Health District during a Dec. 22 briefing.
"For that trend to continue moving in the right direction we need our businesses and residents to continue with those health measures through the holidays and beyond, as hard as it is to do," he said.
He advised people to continue avoiding indoor gatherings, to keep six feet apart from those you don't live with and to continue the social distancing measures recommended by the Health District.
For local towns, like Arlington and Tulalip, cases have continued to be high however.
Tulalip's Dec. 22 report showed 35 active cases and one new death, with six new positive cases and six recoveries since their last report.
Meanwhile, Arlington reached a new record number of active cases with 514 active cases for the city as of their Dec. 31 report.
Countywide, the most recent case rate of 330 cases per 100,000 people still represents a much higher rate than the spring peak that saw 129 cases per 100,000 people.
"We are still in a very precarious position," said Spitters.
As of Dec. 31, hospitalizations reached 116 confirmed COVID cases with 30 additional suspected cases.
That is a significant portion of hospital capacity taken with COVID-19 care.
"Although the trajectory is favorable, the absolute number of cases in the community, and the branching impacts on the healthcare system and on mortality remain fearsome and we need to all pull together to continue to reduce transmission," said Spitters.
Dr. George Diaz, the section chief for Infection Diseases at Providence Regional Medical Center, said that hospitalizations have increased rapidly over the last eight weeks.
"Since Thanksgiving we continued to see a rise in the number of hospitalizations," he said.
Most hospital employees have had heavy workloads all year, he said.
"Our staff has been dealing with the pandemic for nearly a year now so there is a lot of fatigue in our staff," said Diaz.
Over the last weeks of December the first vaccines were delivered to various healthcare agencies in the county.
Diaz said that himself and other hospital members have already begun receiving them.
"We definitely encourage all caregivers in the county to receive the vaccine," he said. "We have seen transmission occur in the hospital amongst caregivers and this vaccination will hopefully prevent that. It will also prevent transmission from caregivers to patients, which is something that has happened."
The vaccine rollout will continue with partnerships between healthcare organizations and government agencies.
The federal coronavirus relief bill passed in March (the CARES Act) had a deadline of Dec. 31, 2020, however that has now been extended due to federal legislation.
"We have read a little of the reports about what is included in the new federal package and we are encouraged by it," said Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers.
"Critically it will give the county and the Health District time to spend the current CARES Act funds until the end of 2021," he said.
Initially, funds from the act were meant to be spent in 2020.
"It was quite clear in the original CARES Act that it was to be for 2020 only," said Somers.
"If we had a longer time period for planning we would have taken that into account," during initial planning, said Somers.
The new relief package also includes funding for businesses, the vaccination effort and "some limited support for renters" said Somers.
"That is a relief for us all at the Health District," said Spitters, as the district and the county had been considering how to fund a vaccination effort without federal funds.


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Home / Car News / 2016 Bugatti Chiron – Official pictures and details
2016 Bugatti Chiron – Official pictures and details
Bugatti has officially unveiled the 2016 Bugatti Chiron. The new model was previewed by the Vision Gran Turismo concept and is Bugatti's much awaited replacement for the Veyron.
The new Bugatti Chiron is basically an all-new car and uses a small amount of components sourced from the mighty Veyron. The W16 8.0 liter engine was updated in order to deliver 1.500 horsepower and 1.600 Nm peak of torque. The engine is now matted to a reworked seven speed dual-clutch transmission that sends the power to both axles.
As a result, the 2016 Bugatti Chiron can run from stand still to 100 km/h in under 2.5 seconds, while the top speed is clocked at 420 km/h (electronically limited). The not to 200 km/h is done in less than 6.5 seconds, while the not to 300 km/h can be done in 13.6 seconds. According to Bugatti, the new 2016 Chiron will be able to run up to 460 km/h.
The 2016 Bugatti Chiron is 82 mm longer, 40 mm wider and 53 mm higher than the Veyron and is also 341 pounds (155 kilograms) heavier.
According to Bugatti only 500 units will be made and they already received more than 150 orders. The starting price of the new 2016 Chiron is 2.4 million Euros.
Source: Bugatti
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Question of the Day: How much whiteness is 'appropriate'?
Seattle mayor to fight white privilege HOW?
MSNBC's Joy Reid cuts mic of a guest for 'incredibly offensive' remark; so what did he say?
Bigotry against white people is reaching dangerous proportions; when will the MSM take notice?


Hey guys, I am looking at getting a custom set of diamond racing wheels made for my car. I want to go 15x7 so I can use my existing tires, wheels to be as flush as possible with little to no rubbing. I know you can get pretty much any amount of backspacing, and I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on how many inches of backspacing I would need to get the desired result.
I am running 15 x 7 with 205 50 15 and I have rolled my fender lips. I do not have any rubbing issues, except when turning against the stop, inside of the tire rubs the sway bar, not a problem. My wheels have a 20 mm offset, which if I measure correctly is a 4.25 backspacing. With the fenders rolled there maybe room to move the tire outboard a quarter to 1/2 inch but depending on hw low your suspension you may have rubbing.
I was using some 15x8 0 offset diamond racing on my GS last year.I did roll the inner lip of the fenders and was using 195/50/15 tires and never had a problem with rubbing.
the wheel was prety much flush with the fenders.
well as of right now, im running stock suspension set up with 185/50 in the front and 205/50 in the back. i would like to avoid rolling the fenders but if i have to i will. honestly my biggest worry is that they clear the shock towers. also, did you guys have studs pressed into the hubs or did you run the standard acorns?
I'm curious about this as well, I'm looking to get a set of Diamonds after my current tires cord. BrGreenSA, please keep us updated on what you get and how you like it.
Another thing I didn't take into account, was the offset options I have. What should I be looking at in terms of that, or is it fundamentally the same thing as offset? Sorry, wheels aren't really my specialty.
Backspacing and offset are two different ways to measure how far in or out the rim is in relation to the mounting surface. Backspacing is the distance from the mounting surface to the inside rim. Offset is the distance of the mounting surface from the center of the rim, positive is to the outside, negative is to the inside.
Last edited by BrGreenSA; 12-19-12 at 10:59 AM.
Zero off set diamonds should fit. That will get you a wheel with around 4" of backspacing. I own a set for rain tires on my race car and this is how they measure.
As far as lug nuts - most of their small car wheels use 60 degree lug nuts. If your wheels are built like this then you should be able to use the factory lug bolts. If they specify 45 degree lug nuts you will need to install studs and by 12mm 45 degree nuts. These are available in the Circle Track world. My personal preference would be to go with studs and lug nuts - I hate lug bolts.
When you have your wheels and tires balanced - find a servicer that can reference the lug holes and not the hub hole. Diamond wheels are not hub centric - they list this in their web site. This is not a bad thing it just means that you need to balance them by using the stud holes. High end Hunter wheel balancers are set up this way.
I've been looking around, and put in an email to Dayton Wire wheels, and they can do any offset, backspacing combo, with a 4 lug knockoff adapter, I think my little Bronze Beauty will look cool with the matching wires.
Keep in mind that a 7" wheel is actually 8" from outer to outer lip if ur are going to be measuring and calculating ur backspacing urself. If ur really wanting the wheels to sit flush, most likely u will need to roll ur fenders, unless u do like the "stance" group and get skinny tires.
You should message or look up dmclean's car..I think he kind of sets the standard for how a fb should look with diamond racing wheels.
+1... his stance is proper!
he's running 15x8 w/ 4.5" backspacing. if u read through that thread, u will see that he had to roll his fenders and run 185's. if u want 15x7's, ur outter lip will sit in an inch towards the inside compared to his (which will help clear the fender...depending on ur tire width). but he's also way low.
A 7" wheel with zero offset will stick like an inch out of the fender. You do not want zero offset with a 7" wheel. A zero offset with an 8" wheel is about correct. With a 7" wheel you want between 12 and 20 offset or 4.5-5" of backspacing.
Ideal for a 1st gen is 15x7 with 4.5 backspace or 4.75 max.
I actually just checked out the diamond racing website and I see that they only offer the SC and Pro Street in 15x7 in a 0 though -64 offset with no positive offset options. Would a 0 offset be okay to run and fit well with the car I mentioned above?


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Xuzhou No. 5 High School () is a public secondary school in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China, established in 1905.

History
The private Peixin Academy (培心书院) was established in 1905 as a missionary school. It was renamed as Peixin middle school, or Peizheng middle school. In 1952, the Xuzhou government took it over and named it Xuzhou No. 5 Middle School of Shandong Province. In 1953, because Xuzhou was put under Jiangsu province, the name is changed into Xuzhou Number 5 Middle School.

Today
Xuzhou No. 5 Middle School now is a three-star high school. Instruction includes classes of lyre-playing, chess, calligraphy and painting, a 21-or 25-stringed plucked instrument, I-go, manners, poetry and other classes with strong ethnic characteristics which contribute to inheriting and developing Chinese traditional culture. Small class teaching has been implemented in Xuzhou Number 5 Middle School.

Facilities
The campus is about 31,000 square metres. The building area is 13,885 square meters.
There are laboratory building, office building, peizheng building, wusan building, teaching buildings, and history museum building.

Laboratory building
In the laboratory building, there is a theatre classroom with multi-media facilities which is equipped with 3oo seats. Besides this, there are 3 physics Labs, 2 Chemistry labs, 2 Biology labs, 1 labor and technology classroom. The fourth floor and fifth floor are usually used for music teaching, dancing teaching art teaching and varied activities.
Teaching buildings
At present, Xuzhou Number 5 middle school has a total of 46 classrooms, which includes 24 senior high school classrooms and 22 junior high school classrooms and make up 3 teaching buildings. All of the three buildings are allocated with screens, slide projectors, recording machines, and video cassette recorders.
Library
In the library, there are about 8,3714 books, more than 7,0000 books of them have been put into computers. Students can read books in different fields.

Teaching staff
Nowadays, the staff total 195. Among them, there are 164 part-time teachers, 43 senior teachers, 85 elementary teachers.
Most of the teachers are dedicated, careful and hardworking in teaching, as a result, a few dozens of them win the title of "famous teachers".
what's more, 16 teachers have been named as a provincial and municipal outstanding teachers.

Notable alumni
Ma Ke (), musician
Zhu Rui (), artillery commander of the People's Liberation Army (PLA)
Hu Xiuying (), botanist
Wang Hailong (), a scholar at Columbia University
Chen Zhong (professor) (), a president of  College of Software in Peking University
Cai Kailin (), an assistant director of city National People's Congress
Hu Zhenglong (), a deputy secretary of municipal party committee of Xuzhou

References

Schools in Jiangsu

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


They listened to the radio until there was nothing more to do. Philip went into the house and retrieved a container of Kraft vanilla pudding, which he'd mixed with all the drugs he could find in the house—Valium, Klonopin, Percocet, and so on. He opened the passenger-side door and knelt beside Becky. He held a spoon, and she guided it to her mouth. When Becky had eaten all the pudding, he got back into the driver's seat and swallowed a handful of pills. Philip asked her how the pudding tasted. "Like freedom," she said. As they lost consciousness, the winter chill seeped into their clothes and skin.


text:
About Tonio Andrade
Tonio Andrade grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has degrees from Reed College (B.A. in Anthropology), the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (M.A. in History), and Yale University (Ph.D. in History). He is currently Professor of History at Emory University, where he writes on global history and the history of China. His most recent book, The Gunpowder Age, is a work of global military history that explores gunpowder warfare in Europe and China from 900 to 1900. He is also author of How Taiwan Became Chinese (Columbia University Press, 2008), which focuses on the early history of Taiwan, and Lost Colony: The Untold Story of Europe's First War with China (Princeton University Press, 2011), which explores the European military revolution with data from East Asia. His articles have appeared in The Journal of World History, Late Imperial China, International Journal of Maritime History, The Canadian Journal of Sociology, Itinerario, The Journal of Asian Studies, and various other publications. He lives in Decatur, Georgia, with his wife, Andrea, and his three daughters, Amalia, Sylvia, and Josephine.


text:
Bridge Project 2016: thoughts on process
(i'm one of 4 choreographers for Velocity's Bridge Project this year. i made a piece called Doin' it Right. here for you is a slice of my brain, transcribed in English.)
I walked into the studio the first day of rehearsal and flat out told the dancers (there's 5 of them Katie Thompson, Kate Pope, Britt Gaudette, Liz Houlton, and Lindsey Palmquist), that Hi, Welcome, and I have no idea what this piece is about. I knew something about my approach to it, working with language and the idea of text, subtext and supertext. But I had no idea what I wanted to say with this piece. Which, maybe for someone who isn't me, this wouldn't be that big a deal but pretty much every piece I've made up till now I've know, with varying degrees of certainty, what the piece was about. And that informed what happened on stage. Whether it was a straight narrative piece with still images, or a voice over'd piece with movement along with it. My work has a very strong storytelling element to it. Well, not just element, it's like the whole molecule. That's kind of the driving force behind my art. And so to walk in day one and not have a story to start with, I was like, well. . . let's see what happens.
It wasn't until about 2.5 weeks into the almost 4 week process that I figured out what this piece is about, for me. And I'm not gonna tell you what that is here, you have to come to the show to find out. But, sneak peek, it turned out to be a lot about a specific ongoing experience and that in turn really made it about process. Just following the movement, a lot of exploring, finding what it is that moves me, what it is that moves my dancers, on an unspoken level, and building from there. And it turns out the story was there the whole time, it just took us a little playing around to find it.
Side note, I've never been more thrilled to go to rehearsal in my life. Well, I mean, I've had good rehearsals in my life, they were fun, but this one took it to the next level somehow. Like, I've never felt more alive in a rehearsal process in such a consistent way. And I was telling my dancers that the difference between me alone in the studio, and me in the studio with all them, was dialog. I love dialog. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love to monologue, but there's something extra special with dialog. With conversation specifically. This piece has been an incredibly collaborative process. I feel really, like, fuck yeah! to have had time with these five people to just open up the process, this creative process and get to know one another in order to figure out answers- What are we doing? Why are we here? Why do we move? What moves us? On like a physical level, yeah, but on a mental, spiritual, emotional level as well. Those things to me are just as important, or, have equal importance, rather, because for me the movement comes from those other levels, from that emotion, from those feelings, those thoughts. That's what movement is for me. Or at least, that's the interesting part for me of movement. I mean, yeah, there's dance vocabulary, great, and you can say a lot with dance and these dancers are super fluent and articulate in that language, but I'm like, as a writer, as a human, as as an artist, as a relative newcomer to dance as a mode of expression, I'm, like, well, that's fine and all, but What are you trying to say??? What are you telling me??
And for me this goes back to this other influence: this core observation that when we talk, we move our bodies, some people more than others, of course, and some of that is cultural, some is personal, but there's all these hand gestures and shrugs and eyebrow arching and we're not even really conscious about that but more interestingly, these movements are not exactly necessary to move the story along, to say what you wanna say. So if they aren't necessary, then why do it? And then the other question that comes up for me, is like, well shit, are words inadequate by themselves? I mean, that would explain the use of all caps and bold and italics. And why my text messages get so misinterpreted sometimes.
So this idea of movement as communication. And not that it's compensating for, like, a lack in just pain text, but the idea of What if they are inseparable, movement and language? That you can't, that you can't, that, that words alone don't tell the full story, and that dance alone doesn't tell the full story. I mean it can, yes, in both cases, you just fill in the blanks with your own story. But yeah, this is just my opinion. I just don't think you can separate the two. For me they are in intrinsically linked. I mean, all the elements of performance are, if you think about it. the music, the setting, what time of day it's happening, who you are sitting next to, what you did 10 minutes before walking thru that door, it's all part of it. And so it's taking this like, I don't know, bigger picture approach, or something. Or not even, I mean, noting that for sure, but I think it just boils down to: I'm just really interested in this connection between writing – both the written and spoken word – and movement and dance. I've been calling it Dance Narrative, and so yeah, I made a Dance Narrative piece. With 5 dancers. And i'm not in it. Oops! Spoiler alert! Ha! Yeah, I'm not in it. Well, not physically, at least.
come check out the show: velocity dance center, jan 29, 30 and 31, 8pm
Tags dance, modern dance, velocity dance center, performance art, seattle dance, text, subtext, supertext, artisticprocess, rehearsal
← LESBIAN FANTASYTHE VENUSIAN →
you know, i'm really starting to get use to this error notice. . .
in this next section, you can contact me and i'll put you on my mailing list!


The Pillsbury Homestead belonged to Colonel William S. Pillsbury. Colonel Pillsbury was born on March 16, 1833 and began a career as a shoemaker at the age of 14. By age 20, he was superintendent of the shoe factory. Eventually, he owned his own business in Londonderry and Derry Depot. He was a dedicated Union Soldier during the Civil War. After the war, he married Martha Silver Crowell on April 15, 1865, and together they had 4 children: Rosecrans, Charles, Harriet and Ulysses. He also held a number of public offices at state and local levels.
The homestead is still located on Pillsbury Road in Londonderry.


text:
Q: Docx - update and create different versions? I would like to create different Word-Documents using a template and an excel-input-file.
So I read the xlsx-file, change the content of the template, and want to save several Docx-files. I use the following code which generally works fine for the first document (anything gets replaced and stored as expected). But in the following documents, there is always the same content as in the first document. I tried to reassign the for every row in the excel-sheet the document with
docWork = doc

But it seems that somehow this initialization is not working.
This is the full code I am using:
from docx import Document
import os, sys
import xlwings as xw
import time
from DateTime import DateTime

if __name__ == '__main__':
  print(f"Start Program V8...")
  SAVE_INTERVAL = 5
  WAIT = 3
  FN = "dataCreateCover.xlsx"
  path = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(sys.argv[0]))
  fn = os.path.join(path, FN)
  print(f"Read {fn}...")
  wb = xw.Book (fn)
  ws = wb.sheets[0]
  inpData = ws.range ("A2:Z5000").value
  inpData = [x for x in inpData if x[0] != None]
  tday = str(datetime.today().date())

  print(f"Read DOCX-Files...")
  FNDOC = "template.docx"
  fnDoc = os.path.join(path, FNDOC)
  print(f"Path for DOCX: {fnDoc}...")
  doc = Document(fnDoc)

  for elem in inpData:
    dictWords = {}
    docWork = doc
    elem = [x for x in elem if x != None]
    for idxElem, valElem in enumerate(elem):
      dictWords[f"[section{idxElem + 1}]"] = valElem
    for idx,para in enumerate(docWork.paragraphs):
      for k,v in dictWords.items():
        if k in para.text:
          inline = para.runs
          for item in inline:
            if k in item.text:
              item.text = item.text.replace(k, v)
          print(f"Replaced {k} with {v}...")
          break

    docFN = f"{tday}_{elem[1]}.docx"
    docWork.save(docFN)
    print(f"Document <{docFN}> created - pls press <enter> to close the window...")

How can I use the docx-template and write different word-docs as output?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Home Education Beginner Interesting Details About Richest Senators
The Ethics in Government Act requires many elected officials on a yearly basis to file a financial disclosure statement that reveals their various assets, investments as well as business interests. Unsurprisingly, senators are one of the groups of people who must make this disclosure. Thanks to such documents people have the opportunity to learn more about officials.
The U.S. Senate consists of 100 senators. All of them have a specified salary paid by the government which as of 2021, is $174,000 per annum. Nonetheless, many senators make much more than that annually and have a high net worth.
It is no secret that there are many millionaires in the U.S. Senate. This is typically the case because many of them started their careers in business and made the bulk of their fortunes before joining the political world.
Besides, senators are high-profile people with a lot of power. So, they have access to various business opportunities and other important people, which allows them to make investments to further increase their wealth.
List of wealthy Senators
Mitt Romney is the wealthiest senator, with a net worth of $250 million. As in the case of most wealthy senators, he made his fortune in business before he got started in politics. Mitt Romney founded and ran the private investment firm, Bain Capital.
Mark Warner is one of the wealthiest members of the U.S. Senate as well as Congress, which consists of all the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Warner's net worth is approximately $215 million based on the data from 2018.
The vast majority of Mark Warner's wealth came from Columbia Capital. Warner founded Columbia Capital shortly after graduating from law school. Warner's venture capital firm made several successful early investments in companies that operated in the telecommunication industry, including XM Satellite Radio and Nextel Communications.
As stated above, many senators made a lot of money and Rick Scott is one of them. He has an estimated net worth of $220 million. He was elected in 2019 and before that Scott was the governor of Florida.
Florida's former governor started his career in business, which is where he made the bulk of his wealth. Scott created one of the largest hospital networks, the Columbia Hospital Corporation.
Dianne Feinstein is also quite rich. As of 2018, Feinstein's estimated net worth is $88 million. Her husband Richard Blum founded Blum Capital in 1975. A private equity firm founded by her husband more than 40 years ago is the source for most of that wealth.
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Bazaar Productions has made a call for submissions to fill six slots (companies or individuals) for the seventh annual Berkshire Fringe!, scheduled for July and August 2011, when the festival will feature three weeks of mind-blowing theater, dance, music and multi-media performances by emerging artists from across the United States, and the Berkshires. The deadline for submission is February 15, 2011.
Questions? e-mail co-artistic director Sara Katzoff at sara@berkshirefringe.org or call the offices of Bazaar Productions at (413) 320-4175.


Simple double band ring, with a vertical bar accent- perfect to stack with other rings for the delicate & minimal look! Handcrafted by Jennifer Surine- a local Kalamazoo artist. Made with argentium silver. Sizes 5-9 available.


text:
Bristol City Gives Gerrard A Chance To Save His Managerial Career. Celtic Will Wreck It.
Date: 13th July 2020 at 6:51pm
If Steven Gerrard and his agents have a fraction of intelligence they will speak to Bristol City, and if they get the kind of offer they want they will depart Ibrox from the English club. It is the only way that Gerrard can rescue the next twelve months and save his credibility.
Bristol City is his level. In going to Sevco in the first place he was both blindly arrogant and terribly naïve.
Naïve because he believed that Sevco still had the stature or Rangers, when in fact even before its liquidation that was an artificially inflated club which never would have been competitive if it wasn't also being doped to the gills with Other People's Money.
He was arrogant too, because if Sevco had been Rangers and Rangers been real the job was miles too big for a former player with less than a year coaching a youth team. He didn't even have all his UEFA badges at the time. To call him unqualified is to understate it.
When they told him it was one of the biggest clubs in the game Gerrard believed it.
And he believed that he belonged at that level.
That neither is true hasn't helped him, because unfortunately for him Celtic is just as big as he'd heard … and a manager three or four times better would find himself majorly outgunned in going head to head with us.
Gerrard is the luckiest manager in football.
He was in dire, dire trouble with Celtic about to roll into town, when the global health crisis struck and the game in Scotland was shut down. His team was floundering. He'd lost the dressing room. I firmly believe we were going there to slap them all over the pitch. The 13-point gap would only have grown.
He was brought to Ibrox to stop the march to ten.
It was a crazy appointment. At the time he was going up against Brendan Rodgers, with one of the best win ratios in the history of the club, at around 70% at that time. It was just his bad luck, I guess, that Rodgers was replaced by Neil Lennon who had an even better record (and who in his second spell has a better one again).
None of this is strictly Gerrard's fault, but that will not help him when it comes time for him to meet the historic judgement that awaits him if he's the guy with his hands on the wheel over there when we win the ten.
He's had untold millions to spend in the last two years, and doubtless they will turn over every sofa cushion to get him something for the coming campaign … he might try and argue, later, that he hasn't been funded by more than £20 million and two full squad's worth of signings will make him a liar.
They gave him everything they didn't have.
No trophies is the real headline, and as I said the other day it's now guaranteed that Sevco will go through 2020 without winning a major honour as the League Cup has been moved to next year. That's a decade at Ibrox where the cupboards are bare.
Their fans will not react well to that run being extended.
Gerrard can no longer hide behind his reputation as a player either.
Those in his dressing room don't care what he achieved as a footballer – far less, by the way, than some of the headlines he gets would suggest. They do care that he's done nothing as a manager that justifies his fury at them last season.
They see just another ex-player who doesn't know how to read a tactics board or motivate an entire team.
Many of them were ready to revolt last year.
The Scottish media still loves him anyway, but even that will change when it becomes clear that he isn't going to get the club over the line in this most vital year.
Paul Lambert was right, on Radio Scotland, last night when he said that the heat will consume this guy if he presides over Celtic marching to ten.
He has no idea what that will do to his reputation.
Now is the time for him to wise up.
Bristol City have other candidates in mind; Gerrard isn't their main target no matter what the Scottish media might want you to believe.
Indeed, he has never been targeted by any club south of the border (or anywhere else) since rolling into Sevconia … his reputation has already been damaged by the last two years, and the media down south watches him like a hawk.
Rovers are an ambitious club with money to spend, which is more than he'll get at Ibrox.
Their board wants a Premier League place and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it. He would be competing in a monstrously tough league, against other well-resourced teams … but he will get time there, and space, and there won't be so much pressure on him.
I personally don't want him to leave Ibrox, but if he and his agents are smart they will already have put out the feelers to clubs up and down England, in the hope that somebody bites. He must know that Sevco fans will turn on him as this season drags on, and that his dressing room will only tolerate so much of his behaviour in this campaign after having to listen to him denigrate the squad all through the last one. He knows how that will all look down south.
More than anything else, Gerrard never won a title as a player.
After a while his failure to do it as a manager will start to seem like a curse.
He really went to the wrong club if he wants to break that particular losers habit … not that I think he has the talent to break it anywhere else.
But he can buy his career time.
Time for him to grow without all the pressure on him.
If he stays at Ibrox the next campaign is going to crush him and he and his coaches will be out of their long before the season comes to an end.
The global health crisis saved him last season. Sutton is right too; this season he will have no excuses and nowhere to hide.
Ibrox is not a managerial hot-seat; it is an electric chair.
If he's smart (haha) he'll get out of there as soon as he can.
On Wednesday, this site will publish an unpdated version of our A-Z of Scottish Football Scandal. In the meantime, take the below quiz and see how much you know about some of the most shocking events in the game's recent history.
Which word is the media resistent to using about the events of 2012?
Recievership


text:
Home > Suche: "school progression" Hilfe! Suchhistorie
research-article (56) I21 (2) Ability Bias (1)
Black students' achievement (1) Child schooling (1) J13 (1)
J22 (1) J23 (1) O15 (1)
Random Coefficients (1) Returns to Education (1) School Change (1)
School Reform (1) Standards-Based Reform (1) Time allocation and labor supply (1)
achievement disparity (1) analysis of education (1) employment determination (1)
environmental science performance (1) limited dependent variable (1) resource constraint (1)
school progression (1) sequential probit model (1) sibling composition (1)
Treffer 1 - 20 von 56 für Suche: '"school progression"', Suchdauer: 1.11s
School Progress
von Ayer, Fred C. in Review of Educational Research Vol. 3, No. 3 (1933), p. 194-200
"...1167434 1167434 ger GBVCP eng Ayer, Fred C. School Progress Elektronische Ressource Online..."
von Boyer, Philip A. in Review of Educational Research Vol. 9, No. 2 (1939), p. 168-172
"...1167997 1167997 ger GBVCP eng Boyer, Philip A. School Progress Elektronische Ressource Online..."
Sunday School Progress
in The biblical world Vol. 26, No. 2 (1905), p. 83-88
"...3141133 3141133 ger GBVCP eng Sunday School Progress Elektronische Ressource Online-Ressource..."
RURAL SCHOOL PROGRESS
von STEARNES, R. C. in The Journal of Education Vol. 82, No. 16 (2052) (1915), p. 425-426
"...42824744 42824744 ger GBVCP eng STEARNES, R. C. RURAL SCHOOL PROGRESS Elektronische Ressource..."
SCHOOL PROGRESS IN MAINE
in The Journal of Education Vol. 100, No. 9 (2495) (1924), p. 236
"...42750717 42750717 ger GBVCP eng SCHOOL PROGRESS IN MAINE Elektronische Ressource Online-Ressource..."
School Progress in Massachusetts
von SMITH, PAYSON in The Journal of Education Vol. 101, No. 23 (2533) (1925), p. 637-638
"...42833965 42833965 ger GBVCP eng SMITH, PAYSON School Progress in Massachusetts Elektronische..."
RURAL SCHOOL PROGRESS IN OHIO
von RIEGEL, VERNON M. in The Journal of Education Vol. 92, No. 2 (2288) (1920), p. 34-35
"...42829783 42829783 ger GBVCP eng RIEGEL, VERNON M. RURAL SCHOOL PROGRESS IN OHIO Elektronische..."
School Progress and Pupil Adjustment
von Anfinson, Rudolph D. in The Elementary School Journal Vol. 41, No. 7 (1941), p. 507-514
"...997628 997628 ger GBVCP eng Anfinson, Rudolph D. School Progress and Pupil Adjustment Elektronische..."
Residence, Migration, and School Progress
von Straits, Bruce C. in Sociology of Education Vol. 60, No. 1 (1987), p. 34-43
"... School Progress Elektronische Ressource Online-Ressource Copyright: Copyright 1987 American Sociological..."
School Progress of under-Age Children
von Bigelow, Elizabeth B. in The Elementary School Journal Vol. 35, No. 3 (1934), p. 186-192
"...996654 996654 ger GBVCP eng Bigelow, Elizabeth B. School Progress of under-Age Children..."
Mental Age Distribution in School Progress
von Banker, Howard J. in The Journal of Educational Research Vol. 23, No. 4 (1931), p. 273-279
"...27525358 27525358 ger GBVCP eng Banker, Howard J. Mental Age Distribution in School Progress..."
Erratum: Residence, Migration, and School Progress
in Sociology of Education Vol. 60, No. 2 (1987), p. 103
"...10.2307/2112585 doi 2112585 2112585 ger GBVCP eng Erratum: Residence, Migration, and School..."
PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL PROGRESS, 1910-'11
in The North Carolina high school bulletin Vol. 3, No. 1 (1912), p. 33-34
"...43822304 43822304 ger GBVCP eng PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL PROGRESS, 1910-'11 Elektronische Ressource..."
High School Progress in North Carolina
von Highsmith, J. Henry in High School Journal Vol. 12, No. 7 (1929), p. 264-269
"...40363768 40363768 ger GBVCP eng Highsmith, J. Henry High School Progress in North Carolina..."
School Progress in the United States
von DUFFY, FRED H. in The Journal of Education Vol. 104, No. 7 (1926), p. 163
"...42832858 42832858 ger GBVCP eng DUFFY, FRED H. School Progress in the United States Elektronische..."
Trends in Junior High-School Progress Reporting
von Roelfs, R. M. in The Journal of Educational Research Vol. 49, No. 4 (1955), p. 241-249
"...27529813 27529813 ger GBVCP eng Roelfs, R. M. Trends in Junior High-School Progress Reporting..."
ARE YOUR TEACHERS AIDS OR HINDRANCES TO SCHOOL PROGRESS?
in The Mathematics Teacher Vol. 10, No. 3 (1918), p. 154-157
"...27950120 27950120 ger GBVCP eng ARE YOUR TEACHERS AIDS OR HINDRANCES TO SCHOOL PROGRESS..."
Limited school progress and institutional incompatibility : A Guatemalan case
von SCHWARTZ, Norman B. in Civilisations Vol. 20, No. 2 (1970), p. 240-260
"...41229070 41229070 ger GBVCP eng SCHWARTZ, Norman B. Limited school progress and institutional..."
ERRATUM: Limited school progress and institutional incompatibility : A Guatemalan case
in Civilisations Vol. 20, No. 3 (1970), p. 333-335
"...41229083 41229083 ger GBVCP eng ERRATUM: Limited school progress and institutional incompatibility..."
123Weiter »
Schlagwörter: research-article
Format: Online-Artikel
Quelle: JSTOR
research-article
Ability Bias (1)
Black students' achievement (1)
Child schooling (1)
O15 (1)
Random Coefficients (1)
Returns to Education (1)
School Change (1)
Standards-Based Reform (1)
Time allocation and labor supply (1)
achievement disparity (1)
analysis of education (1)
employment determination (1)
environmental science performance (1)
limited dependent variable (1)
resource constraint (1)
school progression (1)
sequential probit model (1)
sibling composition (1)
Ayer, Fred C. (2)
Heck, Ronald H. (2)
Anfinson, Rudolph D. (1)
Banker, Howard J. (1)
Bianchi, Suzanne M. (1)
Bigelow, Elizabeth B. (1)
Borko, Hilda (1)
Boyer, Philip A. (1)
Card, David (1)
Corn, Jenifer O. (1)
DUFFY, FRED H. (1)
Davidson, John (1)
Frederick, Carl B. (1)
GWINN, J. M. (1)
Glick, Peter (1)
Grant, Monica J. (1)
Halpern, Robert (1)
Harris, Douglas N. (1)
Highsmith, J. Henry (1)
Huston, Althea C. (1)
Jones, Burr F. (1)
Kloosterman, Rianne (1)
Lehman, Harvey C. (1)
MALLER, J. B. (1)
Main, Zilpha (1)
Moore, Kristin A. (1)
Moran, Martin (1)
Pal, Sarmistha (1)
Paterson, Lindsay (1)
Patrinos, Harry Anthony (1)


BLEX-002 is perfect for where recessed lighting is not an option. The extrusion is made from high quality aluminium designed for LED strips that are 8 - 10mm wide. The LED strip lights with extrusion housing can help set the mood of each room in homes, offices and retail stores, creating a particular modern flare. Supplied as standard in 1m or 2m lengths. We also offer cut-to-length option, further saving time and effort. Contact our lighting specialists for more information!


GREENSBORO, N.C. — Hold onto your whiskers, cat lovers, have we got mews for you!
The Crooked Tail Cat Cafe will open later this year at 604 S. Elm St. in downtown Greensboro, providing a place for patrons to sip coffee while playing with adorable — and adoptable — cats.
It will be the city's first cat cafe, a concept that originated in Taiwan in the late 1990s as spaces where people could pay a small fee to enjoy a hot beverage while interacting with cats. The cafes crept through Asia and Europe, finally reaching North America a few years ago.
Karen Stratman, owner of the Crooked Tail Cat Cafe and a self-described cat lady, decided to start her own kitten kingdom after a pop-up cafe in Portland (Purringtons Cat Lounge, now a permanent fixture) caught her eye.


Purdue will send four teams to the Battle of the Brains competition on October 31, 2009. Teams from over 90 countries will come together at the University of Cincinnati for the 5-hour competition. Purdue participants Arman Suleimenov, John Bohlmann, Zhanibek Datbayev, and Wenyu Zhang spoke with Mike Loizzo of WBAA Weekend Magazine. Please visit their web site to listen to the interview.


text:
Wishes for 2022, and Not Just Tax
So with a new year heading our way very soon, and aware that 2022 is pronounced 2020, too, I extend to everyone a wish that 2022 not be like 2020. Or, for that matter, 2021.
I hope that 2022 brings tax simplification and tax fairness to federal, state, and local tax systems and laws.
I hope that 2022 brings a decrease in, or even elimination of, the folks who choose to engage in fraudulent tax return preparation.
I hope that 2022 brings a decrease in, or even elimination of, the folks who choose to file fraudulent returns, to engage in tax evasion transacations, and to fail to file and pay taxes that are due.
I hope that 2022 brings an end to the practice of the wealthy using their wealth to decrease their tax burdens so that the need for revenue or the impact of reduced or terminated programs falls on those who are least able to bear those burdens.
I hope that 2022 brings an end to using tax laws to accomplish goals that are best funded directly, openly, and efficiently.
I hope that 2022 brings an end to the pandemic, so that the IRS, tax practitioners, and taxpayers can say goodbye to delays, complications, and confusion.
I hope that 2022 brings a restoration of postal service, not only for the few people who use mail to file tax returns, but also for everyone who uses the postal service because they don't have digital access (yes, there are some in that position), or cannot afford private delivery service, or who are transmitting something that cannot be sent electronically.
I hope that 20022 brings a surge in quality education, and a disappearance of propaganda and social media mistruths, not only with respect to tax, but also with respect to health, shopping, contracts, travel, and everything else for which being educated provides an advantage over being ignorant or misinformed.
I hope that 2022 brings an end to those on the losing end of a score claiming that they are winners, and who seek to cheat rather than accepting the reality of their performance.
I hope that 2022 brings peace, justice, good health, and integrity to all in the world.
# posted by James Edward Maule @ 12:15 PM
Overused Fraudulent Tax Return Preparation Ploys
One thing that strikes me as bewildering about tax return preparation fraud is that preparers will try the very same stunt that brought other preparers to court and prison. One need only read some of the instances discussed in my previous commentaries on this issue to see what I am describing. Take a look at posts such as Tax Fraud Is Not Sacred, More Tax Return Preparation Gone Bad, Another Tax Return Preparation Enterprise Gone Bad, Are They Turning Up the Heat on Tax Return Preparers?, Surely There Is More to This Tax Fraud Indictment, Need a Tax Return Preparer? Don't Use a Current IRS Employee, Is This How Tax Return Preparation Fraud Can Proliferate?, When Tax Return Preparers Go Bad, Their Customers Can Pay the Price, Tax Return Preparer Fails to Evade the IRS, Fraudulent Tax Return Preparation for Clients and the Preparer, Prison for Tax Return Preparer Who Does Almost Everything Wrong, Tax Return Preparation Indictment: From 44 To Three, When Fraudulent Tax Return Filing Is Part of A Bigger Fraudulent Scheme, Preparers Preparing Fraudulent Returns Need Prepare Not Only for Fines and Prison But Also Injunctions, Sins of the Tax Return Preparer Father Passed on to the Tax Return Preparer Son, Tax Return Preparer Fraud Extends Beyond Tax Returns, When A Tax Return Preparer's Bad Behavior Extends Beyond Fraud, More Thoughts About Avoiding Tax Return Preparers Gone Bad, Another Tax Return Preparer Fraudulent Loan Application Indictment, Yet Another Way Tax Return Preparers Can Harm Their Clients (and Employees), When Unscrupulous Tax Return Preparers Make It Easy for theblo IRS and DOJ to Find Them, Tax Return Preparers Putting Red Flags on Clients' Returns, When Language Describing the Impact of Tax Fraud Matters, Injunctions Against Fraudulent Tax Return Preparers Help, But Taxpayers Still Need to Be Vigilant, Will the Re-Introduced Legislation Permitting Tax Return Preparer Regulation Be Enacted, and If So, Would It Make a Difference?, Can Fraudulent Tax Return Preparation Become An Addiction?, Tax Return Preparers Who Fail to File Their Own Returns Beg For IRS Attention, Using a Tax Return Preparer? Take Steps to Verify What Is Filed on Your Behalf, When Dishonest Tax Return Preparers Are Married, There Was Nothing Magical About This Tax Return Preparation Business, Don't Get Burned By a Tax Return Preparer, Tax Fraud School: When It's Not Enough to Be a Fraudulent Tax Return Preparer, and It's Not Just Tax Return Preparers Assisting in the Preparation of Fraudulent Tax Returns.
This time, according to a Department of Justice news release brought to my attention by reader Morris. According to the release, an Indiana tax return preparer was sentenced to 39 months in prison, a year of supervised release, and payment of more than $1 million in restitution after pleading guilty to inventing non-existent income in order to increase clients' earned income tax credits, and to inventing false information to generate education credits. During the three years in question, the preparer filed more than 300 fraudulent returns, including his own. By charging roughly $1,000 per return, he pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. His falsifications generated more than $1,000,000 in excess tax refunds for his clients. And, of course, he did not report any of his fees as gross income. Even worse, he had previously pled guilty to criminal tax charges five years earlier, was sentenced, and after learning he was being investigated yet again, opened 15 new bank accounts while claiming he no longer prepared returns.
The earned income tax credit ploy has been used repeatedly by fraudulent tax return preparers. One would think that by now they would have figured out that it doesn't work in the long run. The new bank account trick is also timeworn yet still used by those who think that they are special and won't get caught. And, of course, another practice, failing to report tax return preparation fees as gross income makes it even easier for the IRS and Department of Justice to find these folks. True, there may be some preparers who have used these "techniques" who haven't been caught, but it's simply that they haven't *yet* been caught.
# posted by James Edward Maule @ 3:41 PM
It's Not Just Tax Return Preparers Assisting in the Preparation of Fraudulent Tax Returns
The parade of tax return preparers trying to get away with a crime and then getting caught continues. If you've missed the parade, some portions of it can be viewed by reading the commentaries in which I have discussed the activities of some of these preparers. I've done so in posts such as Tax Fraud Is Not Sacred, More Tax Return Preparation Gone Bad, Another Tax Return Preparation Enterprise Gone Bad, Are They Turning Up the Heat on Tax Return Preparers?, Surely There Is More to This Tax Fraud Indictment, Need a Tax Return Preparer? Don't Use a Current IRS Employee, Is This How Tax Return Preparation Fraud Can Proliferate?, When Tax Return Preparers Go Bad, Their Customers Can Pay the Price, Tax Return Preparer Fails to Evade the IRS, Fraudulent Tax Return Preparation for Clients and the Preparer, Prison for Tax Return Preparer Who Does Almost Everything Wrong, Tax Return Preparation Indictment: From 44 To Three, When Fraudulent Tax Return Filing Is Part of A Bigger Fraudulent Scheme, Preparers Preparing Fraudulent Returns Need Prepare Not Only for Fines and Prison But Also Injunctions, Sins of the Tax Return Preparer Father Passed on to the Tax Return Preparer Son, Tax Return Preparer Fraud Extends Beyond Tax Returns, When A Tax Return Preparer's Bad Behavior Extends Beyond Fraud, More Thoughts About Avoiding Tax Return Preparers Gone Bad, Another Tax Return Preparer Fraudulent Loan Application Indictment, Yet Another Way Tax Return Preparers Can Harm Their Clients (and Employees), When Unscrupulous Tax Return Preparers Make It Easy for theblo IRS and DOJ to Find Them, Tax Return Preparers Putting Red Flags on Clients' Returns, When Language Describing the Impact of Tax Fraud Matters, Injunctions Against Fraudulent Tax Return Preparers Help, But Taxpayers Still Need to Be Vigilant, Will the Re-Introduced Legislation Permitting Tax Return Preparer Regulation Be Enacted, and If So, Would It Make a Difference?, Can Fraudulent Tax Return Preparation Become An Addiction?, Tax Return Preparers Who Fail to File Their Own Returns Beg For IRS Attention, Using a Tax Return Preparer? Take Steps to Verify What Is Filed on Your Behalf, When Dishonest Tax Return Preparers Are Married, There Was Nothing Magical About This Tax Return Preparation Business, Don't Get Burned By a Tax Return Preparer, and Tax Fraud School: When It's Not Enough to Be a Fraudulent Tax Return Preparer.
But this time, according to a recent Department of Justice news release, it wasn't a tax return preparer who rigged up a tax fraud scheme. It was a mortgage underwriter who in 2015 and 2016, along with several others, told their clients that they could pay off their mortgage loans by filing forms with the IRS claiming that substantial amounts of taxes had been withheld when, in fact, that was not the case. The mortgage underwriter and his co-conspirators knew that the forms were false. The forms filed by the clients and detected by the IRS generated more than $4 million in unjustified tax refunds. The mortgage underwriter charged fees of between 20 and 35 percent of the refunds, and then shared some of those fees with the others involved in the scheme. When the IRS discovered the fraud and began its investigation, he provided the clients with fraudulent documents to send to the IRS, telling the clients to hide his role in the filing of their returns and also advising a client to remove funds from his bank account to prevent the IRS from collecting the taxes that were due. On account of these activities, he was convicted of conspiring to defraud the IRS, aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, and obstructing the IRS.
It gets worse. The mortgage underwriter also failed to file a return for 2016. He also did not pay taxes on any of his income for that year, including the income derived from marketing and operating the fraudulent filing scheme. For this, he was convicted of failing to file a tax return.
For all of these crimes, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He also was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and to pay about $4.2 million in restitution to the United States.
So if he is in prison, how does he come up with $4.2 million? Does he have that much in assets? Probably not. He probably collected about $1 million in fees, gave some to his co-conspirators, and surely spent at least some of what remained. Perhaps he has some other assets. Perhaps not. Will he, when released, have the ability and time to earn the amount that must be paid in restitution? Should he be spared prison so he can earn the amount needed? No. One can only wonder how he would then try to find $4.2 million. Of course, perhaps the IRS can collect some of the fraudulently paid refunds, but even if it does so, it ought not reduce the required restitution.
The lesson? In addition to being careful in selecting a tax return preparer, be just as careful when getting tax advice from someone who is not a tax expert. A mortgage underwriter tells you to file a particular form in order to pay off a mortgage? Take the form to a reputable tax professional and find out if it is legal, not just in a tax sense but also in terms of debtor-creditor law.
# posted by James Edward Maule @ 11:54 AM
Sharing a Tax Refund? Put the Details in a Written Agreement and Save the Evidence
Over the years, television court shows have been supplying me with material for this blog. Some of my commentaries about these episodes include Judge Judy and Tax Law, Judge Judy and Tax Law Part II, TV Judge Gets Tax Observation Correct, The (Tax) Fraud Epidemic, Tax Re-Visits Judge Judy, Foolish Tax Filing Decisions Disclosed to Judge Judy, So Does Anyone Pay Taxes?, Learning About Tax from the Judge. Judy, That Is, Tax Fraud in the People's Court, More Tax Fraud, This Time in Judge Judy's Court, You Mean That Tax Refund Isn't for Me? Really?, Law and Genealogy Meeting In An Interesting Way, How Is This Not Tax Fraud?, A Court Case in Which All of Them Miss The Tax Point, Judge Judy Almost Eliminates the National Debt, Judge Judy Tells Litigant to Contact the IRS, People's Court: So Who Did the Tax Cheating?, "I'll Pay You (Back) When I Get My Tax Refund", Be Careful When Paying Another Person's Tax Preparation Fee, Gross Income from Dating?, Preparing Someone's Tax Return Without Permission, When Someone Else Claims You as a Dependent on Their Tax Return and You Disagree, Does Refusal to Provide a Receipt Suggest Tax Fraud Underway?, When Tax Scammers Sue Each Other, One of the Reasons Tax Law Is Complicated, An Easy Tax Issue for Judge Judy, Another Easy Tax Issue for Judge Judy, Yet Another Easy Tax Issue for Judge Judy, Be Careful When Selecting and Dealing with a Tax Return Preparer, Fighting Over a Tax Refund, Another Tax Return Preparer Meets Judge Judy, Judge Judy Identifies Breach of a Tax Return Contract, When Tax Return Preparation Just Isn't Enough, Fighting Over Tax Dependents When There Is No Evidence, If It's Not Your Tax Refund, You Cannot Keep the Money, Contracts With Respect to Tax Refunds Should Be In Writing, Admitting to Tax Fraud When Litigating Something Else, When the Tax Software Goes Awry. How Not to Handle a Tax Refund, Car Purchase Case Delivers Surprise Tax Stunt, Wider Consequences of a Cash Only Tax Technique, Was Tax Avoidance the Reason for This Bizarre Transaction?, Was It Tax Fraud?, Need Money to Pay Taxes? How Not To Get It, When Needing Tax Advice, Don't Just "Google It", Re-examining Damages When Tax Software Goes Awry, How Is Tax Relevant in This Contract Case?, Does Failure to Pay Real Property Taxes Make the Owner a Squatter?, Beware of the Partner's Tax Lien, Trying to Make Sense of a "Conspiracy to Commit Tax Fraud", Tax Payment Failure Exposes Auto Registration and Identity Fraud, and A Taxing WhatAboutIsm Attempt.
This time it's episode 4 of Hot Bench's season 8. Piecing together the facts is a bit challenging because both parties were rather disorganized in presenting their case.
Many years ago, the plaintiff and the defendant were in a relationship. The defendant became pregnant, and put the baby up for adoption. The plaintiff and defendant broke up. Years later, they reconnected and got married. The defendant had taxable income. The plaintiff received nontaxable disability benefits. The defendant compared filing a joint return with filing separately, and concluded that filing separately would generate a larger refund than if they filed jointly. However, at another point the defendant suggested that filing separately would cause her to owe additional tax. The parties agreed that the defendant would claim her husband, the plaintiff, on her return – how that was possible was not explained, nor was it clear that is what the defendant did – and also would take a child tax credit for the plaintiff's daughter from a previous relationship. Again, how that was possible was not explained. The defendant stated that by claiming her husband and his daughter she would receive a refund rather than owing additional tax.
According to the plaintiff, the defendant agreed to give him a portion of her refund equal to $3,500 minus however much was held back to pay back child support owed by the plaintiff. When asked several times during the proceeding how much back child support he owed, the plaintiff gave three different answers, including $700, $1,700, and $3,500.
The defendant denies that there was an agreement. The court pointed out that the plaintiff would not have given the defendant permission to make claims with respect to him and his daughter if he wasn't getting something in return. At the time of the alleged agreement, the plaintiff and defendant were not on good terms.
The plaintiff then alleged that no child support was taken out of the defendant's refund by the IRS because the back child support had been taken out of his state income tax refund. There was no inquiry into why the plaintiff would be filing a state income tax return if his only income was nontaxable disability payments. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant did not transfer any money to him, which was why he was suing her.
The defendant then claimed that the plaintiff did get the money and that it went to pay his back child support. She claimed that on her federal income tax return she designated that part of her refund be deposited into the plaintiff's bank account. When showed the bank account number, the plaintiff stated that it was not his bank account. The defendant then claimed that all of her refund went to pay the plaintiff's back child support. She claimed that she then had to file an amended return because she received a letter from the IRS telling her to do so, but she could not produce the letter. It was unclear why the IRS would have sent her such a letter, and it is possible that no such letter was sent.
The plaintiff also sued for return of his wedding ring, and the defendant countersued for alleged damage to their house, and for the plaintiff's alleged harassment and insulting the defendant's son by a previous relationship. The plaintiff had already filed a different lawsuit for return of his property but did not include his wedding ring because he had not discovered it was missing until after that lawsuit was final.
The judges agreed that there was an agreement as the plaintiff described. They did not find proof that the bank account number was for the plaintiff's bank account. They also found the plaintiff more credible than the defendant. However, the plaintiff's confusing statements of how much back child support he owed, for which he gave three very different amounts, left the judges insufficiently convinced that the plaintiff had met his burden of proof with respect to damages.
The judges dismissed the claim for the wedding ring on procedural grounds because the plaintiff had filed a previous suit for property and should file motion for reconsideration of that case in the court that heard it. They rejected the defendant's counterclaims for lack of proof because she had offered no evidence but her own uncorroborated testimony.
The lessons from this case should be obvious. First, put the agreement in writing. Second, retain evidence of what was done pursuant to the agreement. A written agreement and appropriate evidence would have cleared up the confusion that clouded the case. The plaintiff failed to provide evidence of how much back child support was in play. The defendant failed to produce the alleged letter from the IRS. The plaintiff failed to provide evidence of back child support being taken out of a state income tax refund. The defendant failed to provide evidence that any money was paid to the plaintiff.
It is understandable that people enter into oral agreements, as unwise as that is in many instances, because it is quick, inexpensive, and perhaps a repeat of previous successful deals. But when the two parties are not on good terms, as was the situation in this case, or as is the case when there is litigation to be settled, the agreement must be in writing. And there is no good reason not to put it in writing.
Tax Fraud School: When It's Not Enough to Be a Fraudulent Tax Return Preparer
Like other readers of this blog, reader Morris knows that I pay attention to the adventures of tax return preparers who do things that they ought not to do or failed to do something they ought to have done. I have written about these situations on many occasions, including posts such as Tax Fraud Is Not Sacred, More Tax Return Preparation Gone Bad, Another Tax Return Preparation Enterprise Gone Bad, Are They Turning Up the Heat on Tax Return Preparers?, Surely There Is More to This Tax Fraud Indictment, Need a Tax Return Preparer? Don't Use a Current IRS Employee, Is This How Tax Return Preparation Fraud Can Proliferate?, When Tax Return Preparers Go Bad, Their Customers Can Pay the Price, Tax Return Preparer Fails to Evade the IRS, Fraudulent Tax Return Preparation for Clients and the Preparer, Prison for Tax Return Preparer Who Does Almost Everything Wrong, Tax Return Preparation Indictment: From 44 To Three, When Fraudulent Tax Return Filing Is Part of A Bigger Fraudulent Scheme, Preparers Preparing Fraudulent Returns Need Prepare Not Only for Fines and Prison But Also Injunctions, Sins of the Tax Return Preparer Father Passed on to the Tax Return Preparer Son, Tax Return Preparer Fraud Extends Beyond Tax Returns, When A Tax Return Preparer's Bad Behavior Extends Beyond Fraud, More Thoughts About Avoiding Tax Return Preparers Gone Bad, Another Tax Return Preparer Fraudulent Loan Application Indictment, Yet Another Way Tax Return Preparers Can Harm Their Clients (and Employees), When Unscrupulous Tax Return Preparers Make It Easy for theblo IRS and DOJ to Find Them, Tax Return Preparers Putting Red Flags on Clients' Returns, When Language Describing the Impact of Tax Fraud Matters, Injunctions Against Fraudulent Tax Return Preparers Help, But Taxpayers Still Need to Be Vigilant, Will the Re-Introduced Legislation Permitting Tax Return Preparer Regulation Be Enacted, and If So, Would It Make a Difference?, Can Fraudulent Tax Return Preparation Become An Addiction?, Tax Return Preparers Who Fail to File Their Own Returns Beg For IRS Attention, Using a Tax Return Preparer? Take Steps to Verify What Is Filed on Your Behalf, When Dishonest Tax Return Preparers Are Married, There Was Nothing Magical About This Tax Return Preparation Business, and Don't Get Burned By a Tax Return Preparer.
Reader Morris came across a news story that he knew would get my attention. Why? Because it tells the tale of a tax return preparer whose misdeeds soar beyond those of the tax return preparers who have been the subject of previous commentaries. According the story, the owner of a tax return preparation business was charged not only with preparing fraudulent returns but also with operating a "Tax School" where the preparer taught others how to prepare fraudulent returns. For the past five years, students at this "school" would pay $500 to learn how to "manipulate returns by listing fake businesses and fake expenses on tax forms." Prosecutors allege that during one class, the preparer "described how she created a fictitious dog grooming business on a client's return, created a fake profit and loss statement and even instructing a client to print out dog photos to support the claim of a business."
The preparer has been charged with one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent federal income tax returns. The sentence if there is a conviction is a maximum of three years in federal prison and a $100,000 fine. That's not enough. Surely the more people she taught how to commit tax fraud, the longer should be the sentence. It's unclear how many people attended the preparer's "school" and how many of them went on to prepare fraudulent tax returns. Surely after five years the numbers must be in the dozens if not more. So if, for example, this fraudulent tax return preparer spawned another 36 fraudulent tax return preparers, the maximum sentence is one month for each person led astray. That's not enough. It's not even close to what is necessary. It's also unclear whether prosecutors are tracking down the persons who attended this "school" to determine if they engaged in fraudulent tax return preparation. My guess is that those investigations, if they happened, are already concluded, because the news of the "teacher" at that "tax fraud school" being charged would have the students running for cover. It remains to be seen how many of those students, if successfully sued by their clients for the consequences of fraudulently altering their returns, will in turn sue the owner and teacher of what I would call "Tax Fraud School."
How to Tax Billionaires?
Reader Morris pointed me in the direction of Yahoo reprint of a Business Insider article that suggests treating loans taken out by the wealthy as realized income. The article points out that by borrowing on assets rather than selling them, the wealthy can extract cash without adverse income tax consequences. That conclusion is correct. The article contends that when assets "are used as collateral to draw a line of credit and avoid a taxable event, it creates immediate value for the owner." This conclusion is incorrect. There is no increase in value when a taxpayer adds cash to the asset side of the balance sheet and an equivalent amount of debt to the liabilities side of the balance sheet. Income arises when a person is wealthier, and borrowing money does not make a person wealthier.
The key, though, is determining when to tax an increase in wealth. Existing tax law does not tax increases in asset value until that increase is "realized." Under existing law, borrowing money while using the asset as collateral is not a realization event, whereas a sale of the asset is a realization event. Proposals to tax unrealized income, that is, the increase in asset value that isn't taxed under current law, encounter objections because determining value can be difficult in some instances. On the other hand, because most lenders limit the amount of a collateralized loan to something less than the asset's value, the act of borrowing money while using an asset as collateral can establish some amount of a minimum value.
Reader Morris asked me, "Does this article describe an easy way to tax billionaires that would actually work?" I doubt it. First, defining borrowing as a realization event could have unintended consequences. What if the borrowing is designed to raise cash to invest in the business rather than to support consumption? The article describes reducing consumption by the wealthy as one objective of reducing or eliminating the use of collateralized loans to generate untaxed cash flow. Second, finding an appropriate, justifiable, and fair way to spare the non-wealthy from being taxed when collateralizing assets to borrow money would be challenging. It not only requires deciding if wealth or income should be the measuring stick, but also determining where the cut-off should be. On top of that, how to treat taxpayers whose wealth or income fluctuates above and below the cut-off poses challenges. If this proposal were to be enacted and curtail borrowing by the wealthy, what would that do to credit markets and interest rates? Perhaps someone already is doing studies to determine the answer. But without assurance that the outcome would not have undesirable unintended consequences, taking this approach requires great caution.
Reader Morris also asked me, "Do you have an easy way or anyway to tax billionaires that would actually work?" I jokingly replied that perhaps it was a proposal I had seen, perhaps not intended as a joke, that the tax law should have a section that states, "You are now worth a billion dollars. You won! You have all you need. Any income over $20,000,000 a year will be taxed at 100 percent so others can enter the game." Seriously, the easy way is to repeal the provisions that were enacted under the pretext of trickle-down, and to do so retroactively. One specific provision that has been in the tax law since the beginning that needs to be jettisoned is the allowance for depreciation deductions on property that is not depreciating in value, one of the major types of assets used to collateralize the sort of loans the Business Insider article wants to tax.