angelm's Blog

IRS to help non-filers get checks


WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service will open some 320 offices on Saturday, March 29, to help low-income people including some retirees and veterans get the checks they are eligible for under the economic stimulus act passed by Congress in January.


The tax agency said Monday that community and advocacy groups such as the AARP and United Way of America will also make special efforts on that day to ensure that people who don't ordinarily file tax returns don't miss out on the payment.

Under the stimulus act, people are eligible to receive at least $300, with married couples getting $600. Many households also can get an additional $300 for each qualifying child younger than 17.

But people must file a tax return to receive the payment, raising concerns that those who don't usually need to file will be overlooked. The IRS said that this week it is also mailing out packages to 20.5 million people receiving Social Security and veterans benefits with information on filing a return.

The IRS offices open on Saturday will offer assistance in preparing the Form 1040A needed for those filing a return solely to receive the stimulus payment. IRS field officers will also visit nursing homes and similar locations to prepare returns. To qualify, people must have at least $3,000 in earned income and certain benefits from Social Security, Veterans Affairs and Railroad Retirement.

A list of IRS offices and partner sites providing assistance is available on the IRS website, http://www.irs.gov., or by calling the IRS hotline, 1-800-906-9887. On March 29, people can call 1-866-234-2942 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. local time.

Old Fashioned Kentucky Nut Cake


INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup white sugar
3 eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS
Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.
In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Combine milk and vanilla, and add alternately with flour mixture to egg mixture. Fold in nuts. Pour into a greased and floured 9 x 13 inch cake pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Oregon Man Says He's Pregnant
Transgendered Man Writes In 'The Advocate'



Thomas Beatie, who used to be a woman, appeared in the most recent issue of The Advocate, a magazine for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender readers, Portland, Ore., television station KPTV reported.

Beatie wrote the article, which includes a picture of him while he was 22 weeks pregnant. According to the story, he went through a sex change, but decided only to have chest reconstruction and testosterone therapy.

Beatie was able to keep the reproductive organs he was born with. The article said he stopped getting the injections and was able to get pregnant.

Beatie, who lives in Bend, wrote he was once pregnant with triplets, but the pregnancy was life-threatening and he lost the fetuses. Now, Beatie said he and his wife, Nancy, are expecting a little girl in July.

In the article, Beatie described some of the challenges he and his wife have faced -- they said doctors won't treat them. The couple met 10 years ago and Nancy is not able to have children.

He wrote in The Advocate that their situation "sparks legal, political and social unknowns."

Well, even though it is Spring I woke up to snow flurries this morning.I will be glad to see the cold come to an end.Hope you all have a great week!! My picks for today are in pick 3 forum

Easter Bunny Hugs And Kisses

That cute little bunny has hopped all day,
delivering baskets for the holiday.
His paws are so tired and his nose how it itches,
He left you something special to fulfill all your wishes-
Lots of cute little Easter bunny hugs and kisses

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!! If you plan on traveling,be careful!God bless!!

How have chicks and rabbits taken over
A holiday of mystical rebirth?
Perhaps the Lord has let them make it over,
Pleased with all the gentlefolk of Earth.
Youngsters needn't dream of agony:
Easter, for children, must wear more festive clothes;
And so the soft, defenseless babes they see
Symbolize Christ's love when He arose.
The Spring was always time for holidays.
Easter fun for tots no truth betrays:
Redemption is approached in many ways.

INGREDIENTS
4 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts
2 pounds ricotta cheese
6 eggs
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
1 pound cooked ham, chopped
1/2 pound Genoa salami, chopped
1/4 pound prosciutto, chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Place ricotta in a large mixing bowl and add eggs one at a time while mixing on low speed. Stir in mozzarella, ham, salami, and prosciutto until all ingredients are well combined. Line two 9 inch pans with pastry. Spoon half of mixture into each pan. Sprinkle half of the Parmesan cheese over each pie, then cover with top pastry. Crimp edges and cut steam vents in tops.
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, until crust is golden brown.

Weird funny place names
Would you like to live here? These are names of actual locations:

Arsoli (Lazio, Italy)
Bastard (Norway)
Beaver (Oklahoma, USA)
Beaver Head (Idaho, USA)
Brown Willy (Cornwall,UK)
Chinaman's Knob (Australia)
Climax (Colorado, USA)
(Spain)
er (Switzerland)
Diks**t (India)
Dildo (Newfoundland, Canada)
Dong Rack (Thailand-Cambodia border)
Dongo (Congo - Democratic Republic)
Effin (Limerick, Ireland)
Fuku (Shensi, China)
Fukue (Honshu, Japan)
Fukui (Honshu, Japan)
Fukum (Yemen)
Hold With Hope (Greenland)
Intercourse (Pennsylvania, USA)
Lickey End (West Midlands, UK)
Little Dix Village (West Indies)
Lord Berkeley's Knob (Sutherland, Scotland)
Middle Intercourse Island (Australia)
Muff (Northern Ireland)
Nobber (Donegal, Ireland)
Pis Pis River (Nicaragua)
Sexmoan (Luzon, Philippines)
Seymen (Turkey)
Shafter (California, USA)
Shag Island (Indian Ocean)
s**tlingthorpe (Yorkshire, UK)
Tittybong (Australia)
Tong Fuk (Japan)
Turdo (Romania)
Twatt (Orkney, UK)
Wank (Germany)
Wankendorf (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany)
Wankener (India)
Wankie (Zimbabwe)
Wankie Colliery (Zimbabwe)
Wanks River (Nicaragua)
Wankum (Germany)
Wet Beaver Creek (Australia)

Ingredients
2 1/4 lbs beef brisket
6 peppercorns
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 large onion, peeled and left whole
2 bay leaves
1 pinch kosher salt
1 head cabbage, cored and cut
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
4 large potatoes, peeled and cut
1/2 cup peeled diced apples(or 1/4 cup apple sauce)
1 dash Guinness stout(may be omitted if desired) (optional)
2 tablespoons Irish whiskey(may be omitted if desired) (optional)
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
Directions
1Place beef, peppercorns, garlic, onion, bay leaves and salt in large pot.
2Fill with enough water to cover by about 1 inch.
3Bring to a slow boil for 20 minutes.
4Reduce heat and simmer for 2 to 3 hours or until meat is tender enough to pull apart with a fork.
5Add cabbage, carrots, potatoes, apple, Guinness and whiskey and simmer for about 15 minutes (or until potatoes are tender).
6Remove pot from heat, save the liquid, transfer meat and vegetables to serving platter.
7Discard onion, skim any fat that comes to surface of liquid.
8Add the butter and parsley to reserved liquid.
9To serve: plate vegetables with the beef, (remember to slice the beef against the grain) and spoon the liquid over top.

Woke up this morning with a cold!I guess it's from all the weather changes lately.I can barely swallow ,my throat is so sore.I hope you all enjoy your weekend!Take care and God bless!!

Woman tries to bring skeleton on plane


MUNICH, Germany - A woman was stopped at Munich airport after baggage control handlers found the skeleton of her brother sealed in a plastic bag in her luggage, police said Wednesday.


The 62-year-old woman and her 63-year-old friend, who both live in Italy, were hauled in by airport police Tuesday after a scan of the bag showed a human skull and other bones. The women were traveling to Italy from Brazil.

It turned out, however, that the woman was simply trying to fulfill the last wish of her brother — who died 11 years ago in Sao Paulo, Brazil — to be buried in Italy.

The travelers produced the appropriate papers from Brazilian authorities for the unusual transport, and were allowed to carry on their way to Naples — bones and all.

Angry wife accused of burning 400 phones


BEIJING - A spurned Chinese wife set fire to more than 400 cell phones owned by her and her husband after he walked out on their marriage, a news agency reported Friday. The official Xinhua News Agency said the 37-year-old woman, identified only by her surname Wang, was arrested for arson.



The couple had owned a successful retail phone business in Weifang, the eastern province of Shandong. However, their shaky relationship hit rock bottom when her husband left her on March 3, the news agency reported, citing the local Qilu Evening News.

Overcome with despair, the woman gathered up their entire stock of more than 400 new mobile phones, reportedly valued at more than 300,000 yuan ($42,000), and set them on fire, before walking out of the house, the report said.

Neighbors who saw smoke coming from the house called firefighters, who quickly extinguished the blaze.

In February, a court in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, sentenced Briton Keith Brown, 43, to the standard four-year minimum term in prison for violating the country's extreme "zero tolerance" drug laws, even though the only drug found was a "speck" (0.003 grams) of cannabis caught in the tread of his shoe and discovered only because the Dubai airport uses sophisticated drug-detection equipment. Previously, a Canadian man was imprisoned for "possession" of three poppy seeds (from a bread roll he had eaten at Heathrow Airport in London) that had fallen into his clothing as he prepared for a flight to Dubai.

Study: Daylight Saving Time actually raises utility bills

It's official: Daylight Saving Time is a bust. Designed (and recently extended) as a measure to save energy in a period of inflated electricity prices, an in-depth University of California study has now shown that DST doesn't save anyone any money at all. In fact, it's costing consumers extra, to the tune of $3.19 in extra utility bills per year.

The study was made possible because of the peculiarities of the state of Indiana, which was only partially on DST until 2006. When the whole state finally went DST (to sync with the national business day), some comparisons vs. the prior method were made apparent. The study calculated that the shift costs Indiana residents an extra $8.6 million in electricity bills in total.

Why? Shouldn't they be, well, saving daylight -- and burning fewer light bulbs?

They are, said the study. But while lighting bills were reduced, air-conditioning units had to run more often, because people were home on hot afternoons when they'd otherwise be still at the office. Heaters had to be run on cool mornings, too, when people got up and it was still dark outside.

Professor Matthew Kotchen, who pioneered the study, noted, "I've never had a paper with such a clear and unambiguous finding as this."

This isn't the first time the energy-saving rationale of Daylight Saving Time has been attacked. The first was in 1976, when the National Bureau of Standards found that there was no significant energy savings after the switch. The recent expansion of DST to a few extra weeks was also revealed to have saved no energy during its run. And yet here we are...

In related news, it was also revealed that Daylight Saving Time actually creates no additional daylight.