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That collective groan being heard around the country can only mean one thing — it' s tax time! The painful tradition of modern income tax collection in the United States is 96 years old this month, though the federal government had dabbled in it on and off since the Civil War as a way of balancing the books when money was tight. From the early days when the tax wasn't even collected to the incredible 94 percent rate paid during one period, here are six things you probably didn't know about the system's history.

1. Working out the kinks

The first personal income taxes in the United States were levied in 1861 by an act of Congress, mostly to foot the bill for the newly erupted and very costly Civil War. There were so many questions and problems with the new system, however, that nothing was collected until the following year.

2. No money necessary, thanks

Income tax, along with many other taxes imposed during the Civil War, was repealed after 1865 because the government simply had no need for the extra revenue. The majority of federal income came from taxes on tobacco and alcohol, which were hot commodities at war's end.

3. Maybe they had it right ...

Another newly enacted income tax was actually declared unconstitutional in 1895. The law stated that any tax must be levied in proportion to each state's population; this flat tax wasn't, and was quickly shooed aside by the Supreme Court.

4. Look out Al Capone

When the modern incarnation of U.S. income tax was introduced in 1913, the word " lawful" was included in the text, referring to the kind of revenue that could be taxed. With the loose definitions of that term under question, the government deleted the word in a 1916 amendment. As a result, many bootleggers and criminals who had previously evaded the law were jailed on tax evasion.

5. Supporting the war effort

Think you give a lot to Uncle Sam today? Just be thankful you weren' t paying income tax in 1945, when the country' s top earners doled 94 percent of their salaries over to the government, mostly to recoup costs incurred from the war effort. Taxation rates for the highest income brackets hovered between 82 and 92 percent until 1963.

6. SOS, IRS!

In 1940, the instruction booklet that went along with the United States' standard 1040 income tax form was two pages long. For the 2008 tax year, it is 95 pages long. No wonder more Americans than ever are enlisting someone to help prepare their taxes, even to file their returns online.

• History's Most Overlooked Mysteries
• Cheating on Spouse or Taxes Morally Acceptable for Many
• History News, Images and Information

http://digg.com/comedy/The_100_Most_Iconic_Internet_Videos

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2009/04/08/bishop.id.cat.burglar.kxly

April 12, 2009

Thomas Frazier, father of 14 children, jailed for owing more than half-million in child support

Bryn Mickle 

The Flint Journal

Saturday April 11, 2009, 8:00 AM

FLINT, Michigan -- Fourteen children by 13 different women in Genesee County and more than $530,000 in unpaid child support.

Even in a county with $700 million in uncollected child support, Thomas Frazier may hold the unenviable title of biggest deadbeat dad.

After years of dodging support payments, Frazier was thrown in jail this week and given the choice of doing 90 days or coming up with about $28,000.

"This guy gives fathers a bad name," said Genesee County Friend of the Court Jack Battles.

Thomas Frazier

Before leaving the Flint area in 2002, Frazier amassed court cases for 14 children born since 1989 and has not paid any money on any of his Genesee County child support cases in at least the past six years, according to court records.

Frazier, 42, portrays himself as the victim.

The victim of a system that he says saddled him with debt for children he claims aren't all his and the victim of a poor upbringing that he said caused him to seek affection from older women.

"I tried to find someone who would love me for me," said Frazier, who believes he may have fathered his first child at age 15.

Authorities say Frazier is a serial womanizer who bounces from state to state and hasn't paid child support in years.

Frazier owes Talisha Tyler about $40,000 for a 14-year-old daughter. Tyler said he has never even bought so much as a diaper.

"Thomas has never been involved in her life -- period," said Tyler.

A Genesee County judge on Thursday ordered Frazier to spend 90 days in jail unless he comes up with $4,100 for Tyler.

Even if he comes up with that money, the judge ordered him to spend 90 days in jail on another case. On top of that, the judge gave him 45 days jail on six other cases.

In all, Frazier is looking at three months in jail unless he comes up with at least $27,900.

Tyler would just as soon see him go to prison for much longer.

"He's a fast talker," she said. "He's not going to pay it."

Frazier doesn't dispute that he owes a sizable amount, but said it was unrealistic for the county to expect him to pay so much support.

"At one point, I owed like $3,000 (a month)," he said. "Nobody makes that much."

He said he believes in his heart that only three of the children -- two daughters and a son -- are actually his.

The rest, he says, were born of women he may have slept with but who lied and claimed he was the father, giving the court false addresses for Frazier so that he could never show up to contest paternity.

Local officials, however, say Frazier has a story for everything.

In October, Friend of the Court officials said Frazier gave them a false Social Security number and tried to convince investigators he was someone else.

He remained under the radar until late last month when he got pulled over in Iowa for a broken taillight on his Mercedes Benz.

In his pocket, police found $5,000 in cash and plane tickets to Florida.

Frazier said he is unemployed and local officials said they do not know what he does for a living.

Frazier said he was actually on his way back to Flint and planned to use the $5,000 as a good faith payment on his child support.

The cop tossed him in jail on child support warrants and then had him delivered Wednesday to the Genesee County Jail.

Frazier says he "messed up" and wants to take care of his mistakes, but hopes the Friend of the Court will knock down his bill to a more manageable $200,000 and set him free.

"There's not a lot I can do in jail," Frazier said.

Frazier's plan for freedom won't get a lot of support from the Friend of the Court.

"We will seek prison," said Battles, who says he's heard a litany of excuses from Frazier.

Battles said he's willing to work with Frazier but said it's going to take a lot more than $5,000.

"It will take six digits," said Battles.

His current jail term aside, Frazier is also looking at further legal woes for his probation violation cases.

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton is not in a forgiving mood, noting that Frazier was rolling around in Mercedes Benz with thousands of dollars and plane tickets at the same time he wasn't paying his child support.

"Shame on him for abandoning his children while he lives 'The Life of Riley,'" said Leyton.

Frazier, who has already spent five years on probation for attempted non support of a child, does have one piece of advice for his children.

"Use a condom," he said. "You don't want to end up like your dad."

Posted on Sat, Apr. 11, 2009

'Girls Gone Wild' interrupts Good Friday mass

Philadelphia Daily News

(CNN) -- Jeanne Thomas was sitting at her desk at work when she decided to check the security camera that she installed in her home. The Thomas home had been burglarized before, so she installed a monitoring device where she can watch a live video feed of the camera in her home.

Steven Morales, 19, was arrested in the invasion of a Boynton Beach, Florida, home.

Curtis Williams, 20, was also charged.

When Thomas decided to pull up the feed of her house Wednesday morning, she couldn't believe what she saw. There was someone inside her home, someone she didn't know. Thomas picked up the phone and called 911.

"I'm watching my home on live monitor, and there is a black man in my house, and he is robbing it," she told the dispatcher. The woman on the other end of the call asked Thomas where she was, and Thomas replied, "I'm in Fort Lauderdale, at my work."

To watch the  video of burglars in her home and listen to the 911 call.  Click the link below

http://www.theindychannel.com/technology/19144720/detail.html 

Thomas' home is in Boynton Beach, Florida, more than 20 miles away, yet she was watching over the Internet as two men walked through her home, picking up items.

Police later arrested Curtis Williams, 20, and Steven Morales, 19.

According to the Boynton Beach Police, Williams and Morales entered the house through a pet door. As the 911 dispatcher was calling police to the scene, Thomas stayed on the line, giving a play-by-play of what she was seeing.

"He's in my house. I am seeing him walk around my house. He's in my bedroom right now," she said. The bedroom cannot be seen in the video, but the door from the living room into the bedroom is visible.

Thomas watched as the men wandered through her home, taking valuables such as her TV and Wii gaming console.

"This is unbelievable," she told the 911 dispatcher. "The cat is freaking out. The dogs are hiding."

One of the burglars took a bag of shredded cheese from the refrigerator and could be seen on the video stuffing it in his mouth. None of them noticed the small camera that resembles an air freshener.

"They walked right up to it and didn't know what it was," Thomas said later.

A few minutes after Thomas called 911, the video shows police officers entering the home.

According to the police report, "Williams and Morales had placed the victim's 37 inch flat screen TV, a safe, gaming machine with several misc. games (total value approx. $3000) on the victim's bed."

Williams and Morales told police that two other people, not seen on video, were also involved in the incident.

All four suspects were arrested and charged with burglary of a dwelling and attempted grand theft.

Thomas' husband thought she was nuts for spending $250 on the webcam system, telling her she would never catch anyone. But to her, it now seems like a smart investment.

Thomas hopes it will be a lesson for burglars.

"You never know who is watching you," she said.

Dry Cleaners Offer Free Services For Unemployed

Huffington Post

April 10, 2009

5:55 PM

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This story may be an oldie, relatively speaking, but it's still a goodie -- and a viral one at that! Dry cleaners around the country are offering their services at no cost to unemployed customers who need their suit cleaned for an interview. It all began at Upper East Side dry cleaner First Professional Cleaners. A handwritten sign in their window reads, "If you are unemployed and need an outfit clean for an interview, we will clean it for free." According to the Daily News, it's owner Carlos Vasquez's way of giving a helping hand. "It's just something I do to give back to the community," explains Vasquez. "It's to thank them for the support that I get around here, for letting my business keep going by bringing me their clothes." And he's not alone.

High Point-based "A Cleaner World" cleaners made a similar announcement less than two weeks ago. ABC News' local affiliate in Durham reports that for unemployed job seekers, A Cleaner World "will clean a suit or a blazer and slacks, plus two shirts per week. Women can get a suit and two shirts or blouses or two regular dresses per week."

And Elite Cleaners in Minneapolis has also generously followed suit. Owner Don Chapman has donated his services to 2000 unemployed -- an offer he estimates will cost him $32,000.

Man arrested in jail visit after drugs found on him

BOB ANDERSON

Advocate Florida parishes bureau

Published: Apr 11, 2009 - Page: 5B

A man who went to the Livingston Parish Detention Center to bail a woman out of jail ended up behind bars himself, Livingston Parish deputies said Friday.

Harvey E. LeBlanc, Jr., 29, who listed his address as unknown, was arrested after a search by deputies found both methamphetamine and marijuana in the vehicle in which LeBlanc was sitting in the jail parking lot, said Perry Rushing, chief of operations for the Sheriff’s Office.

“At the jail, we have these signs all over that say you are subject to search,” Rushing said.

After deputies noticed LeBlanc was “acting kind of funny,” they searched the truck, Rushing said.

As a result of the search, he said, deputies turned up several packages of methamphetamine as well as a small amount of marijuana and a partially burned marijuana cigarette.

At a penal institution, authorities do not have to have a warrant in order to search a vehicle, Rushing said.

After discovering the drugs, deputies booked LeBlanc on criminal counts of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and entering contraband into a penal institution.

Rushing said LeBlanc and a another man had gone to the jail late Wednesday to bail out a woman and the driver of the vehicle was inside the building at the time of the search.

Rushing said he did not know the name of the woman prisoner.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Port St. Lucie shoplifting suspects make it too easy for police to track them down

Will Greenlee
Originally published 10:12 a.m., April 10, 2009
Updated 10:12 a.m., April 10, 2009

Christy McGaw

 

PORT ST. LUCIE — Packets of recently developed pictures that were abandoned in carts of stolen merchandise at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in St. Lucie West helped officials track down two alleged thieves, according to a police report released Friday.

A self-checkout cashier on Thursday noticed that two women reportedly scanned and paid for $70 worth of goods, but that the bagged groceries in their carts appeared worth much more.

When the self-checkout cashier asked to see their receipt, the women took off. Store officials found almost $200 worth of items that hadn’t been scanned or paid for, including razors, vitamins and “other small items” stashed in a previously opened box of Summer’s Eve Douche.

The store official also found two packages of recently developed pictures. The self-checkout cashier identified women in the photos as the two who fled when asked for their receipt.

Christy McGaw’s name and phone number were on the envelopes, and she returned to the store when called. Tammy Sharp, 37, came with her and admitted being with McGaw, 40, when the self-checkout cashier tried to stop them.

McGaw, on probation following an earlier retail theft conviction, said she left to get more money from her car but decided to leave after realizing she’d left her wallet and money at home. Sharp denied knowing unscanned items were in the carts.

Both list the same home address in the 1800 block of Southeast Manth Lane and both are listed as unemployed.

Each faces a retail theft charge.