[Editor's Note: This is an Un-Altered news event]

By Bob Shallit
bshallit@sacbee.com

It was every businessperson’s nightmare.

Arriving at Harv’s Metro Car Wash in midtown Wednesday afternoon were two dark-suited IRS agents demanding payment of delinquent taxes. “They were deadly serious, very aggressive, very condescending,” says Harv’s owner, Aaron Zeff.

The really odd part of this: The letter that was hand-delivered to Zeff’s on-site manager showed the amount of money owed to the feds was … 4 cents.

Inexplicably, penalties and taxes accruing on the debt – stemming from the 2006 tax year – were listed as $202.31, leaving Harv’s with an obligation of $202.35.

Zeff, who also owns local parking lots and is the president of the Midtown Business Association, finds the situation a bit comical.

“It’s hilarious,” he says, “that two people hopped in a car and came down here for just 4 cents. I think (the IRS) may have a problem with priorities.”

Now he’s trying to figure out how penalties and interest could climb so high on such a small debt. He says he’s never been told he owes any taxes or that he’s ever incurred any late-payment penalties in the four years he’s owned Harv’s.

In fact, he provided us with an Oct. 22, 2009, letter from the IRS that states Harv’s “has filed all required returns and addressed any balances due.”

IRS spokesman Jesse Weller isn’t commenting “due to privacy and disclosure laws.”

Zeff says he’s as offended as much as anything else by what he considers rude behavior by the IRS guys. While at Harv’s, he sniffs, “they didn’t even get a car wash.”

Songbirds in the US are getting smaller, and climate change is suspected as the cause.

A study of almost half a million birds, belonging to over 100 species, shows that many are gradually becoming lighter and growing shorter wings. This shrinkage has occurred within just half a century in response to warmer temperatures, and at this rate, many may disappear by 2035.

In biology, there is a general rule of thumb that animals tend to become smaller in warmer climates: an idea known as Bergman’s Rule. Usually this trend can be seen among animal species that live over a range of latitude or altitude, with individuals living at more northern latitudes or higher up cooler mountains being slightly larger than those below. But global warming has thrown this process into overdrive, and many of the birds in North America will soon become so small, they will literally wink out of existence.

The WWF funded study examined the weight and size of 48 individual birds that had been caught and measured at the ringing station from 1961 to 2007. What the scientists found was striking. The birds in North America are getting small. Lead Ornithologist Steve Martin was laughed at when he first proposed his thesis, but his critics are laughing no more.

The differences in size are stunning.

“On average, the decline in mass of spring migrants over the 46 year study was 50%. That’s shocking as a young boy changing shoe sizes in reverse” says Doc Martin. The rose-breasted grosbeak has declined in mass by about 40%, while the Kentucky warbler has dropped 30.3% in weight and the scarlet tanager 20.3%.

The trend is particularly noticeable among those birds that have bright colors.

“In one obvious sense, the consequences are positive,” says Dr Rajendra Pachauri, head of the IPCC. “Now people will have to take global warming and the IPCC more serious, or else we will lose the ability to buy downy blankets or goose feather pillows”.

“Luckily, India has few birds, and this problem is not seen in the bird populations in my country, so we in India will not have to cut our greenhouse gas emissions” he added.

Dr. Martin laments “When we take pictures, we ask you to ‘watch the birdie’. Future generations will have no idea what that means and will think you’re cuckcoo. It’s really tragic”.

Original Story Here.

Many men, on the other hand, stay emotionally detached, study suggests

[Editor's Note:   OK. This is a real story. I don't see any reason to change or alter anything here, do you? It speaks for itself.]

Kim Moldofsky can feel guilt over just about anything — her children, stray cats, her work, her husband. “I am easily guilted,” she told me, laughing.

Meanwhile, her husband, Brad, 41, remains blissfully guilt-free. “He is kind and caring but he can be more detached,” said Moldofsky, a 41-year-old “mom blogger” and social media strategist near Chicago. “Sometimes I want him to get caught up in the emotion.” (more…)

[ Duh! ]

Report also finds the average person’s sex life winds down after death.

LONDON – It seems the old cliche may be true. Rich men are more likely than anyone to be interested in sex, have sex and enjoy sex, according to new scientific research, which also found rich people who stay active and healthy enjoy longer sex lives.

Research by University of Chicago academics published online Wednesday in the British Medical Journal found that, across all age groups, rich men were more interested in sex than poor men — and the gap increased with age.

Real Article Here.

NEW YORK – Bank of America customers will soon be unable to spend more than they have in the accounts linked to their debit cards, and instead may be thrown into debtors prison. It’s a step that may become a common move ahead of new regulations limiting overdraft fees.

Rules set by the Federal Reserve that will ban banks from charging such fees, without first getting permission from the customer, are set to take effect July first.

But Bank of America is going a step further than the regulations require. It will  no longer allow debit card purchases to go through if there isn’t enough money in the account. And if the customer continues to overdraft their checking accounts or fail to pay their credit cards on time, they will be sent to debtor prisons.

Debtor Prisons have been politically unpopular in the United States since 1833, but recently, conservative politicians such as  Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney, and even democratic pundits like Paul Begala and James Carville have recently expressed a certain warmth for the idea. The prisons are reported to be administrated by the Blackwater security firm, the troubled company that hired mercenaries in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  “We’ve been wanting to move away from the image of the ‘mercenary’ company, and feel this is a perfect opportunity to branch out” said Blackwater founder Eric Prince. When asked about  concerns of civil rights issues related related to Blackwaters past, and the rights of consumers who find themselves in  debt, and  Cheney replied “They can go f**k themselves”.

Some extreme repeat offenders may even find themselves headed to a secret facility rumored to be built along side the terrorist detention center located at Guantanamo Bay.

“I think banks will use this as an opportunity to be creative and differentiate themselves from the weak-kneed Federal regulators in ways that was really hard to do when everybody had a free checking account,” says Robert Meara, a banking analyst with the consultant firm Celent.

Consumers have demonstrated a willingness to pay overdrafts for covering the mortgage and the car payment, said Greg McBride, who follows the banking industry for Bankrate.com. Now, if they continue to be delinquent on those large ticket items, they may be on a boat to Cuba, “But not if it’s things like covering a latte and a scone.” McBride assured.

Original Story Here.

NOTE: B of A may actually be behind the curve as far as debtor prisons are concerned. More info here.

Seeking to quell the controversy over his  comments on a recent Supreme Court decision, President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to the White House briefing room this afternoon.

Associated Press

“I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Supreme Court or Justice Kennedy specifically, and I could have calibrated those words differently,” Obama told reporters.

At his primetime State Of The Union address on January 27th, Obama said the Supreme Court acted stupidly regarding the Citizen United vs the FEC, and the decision will “open the floodgates” of spending for corporations and foreign companies and other special interests in reversing a century. One Supreme Court justice, Samual Alito, shook his head as if to say the court acted appropriately.

UPDATE 4:06 p.m.: In a statement, the White House said Obama spoke with Justice Roberts this afternoon at 3:15 p.m. “They had a positive discussion during which the president told Roberts about his call with Judge Alito and statement to the media,” reads the statement. Obama has invited Justices Roberts, Kennedy, Alito and the other Supreme Court justices to a meeting at the White House for a beer summit “in the near future.”

Note: Original story content borrowed from: WSJ

CHICAGO – A political newcomer who won the Democratic nomination for Illinois lieutenant governor said he has no intention of leaving the race after details emerged about his arrest for allegedly holding a knife to his former girlfriend’s throat, noting that his poll numbers have been climbing steadily since the details of his arrest hit the press.

Scott Lee Cohen struck a defiant tone as running mate Gov. Pat Quinn predicted they were sure to win the race.  “There are questions, and I will provide all answers honestly and openly,” Cohen said in a statement Thursday.

Cohen was arrested on domestic battery charges in 2005, accused of pushing his then-girlfriend’s head against a wall and of the knife incident. The police report noted abrasions on her neck and hand, but charges were dropped after she failed to appear in court.

<strong><strong>Arrest for prostitution</strong></strong>
Police records show the woman had been arrested for prostitution, the Chicago Tribune reported. Cohen said he did not know that at the time. He told WTTW-TV that he met her at a “massage therapy place” and believed she was a masseuse. Cohen denied hitting her and said their relationship was “tumultuous.”

Cohen said he has asked her and his ex-wife, Debbie Cohen York, to clear the air. York sought an order of protection against Cohen in 2005 as she filed for divorce. She said his violence was fueled by anabolic steroids.

Cohen acknowledged his past steroid use but denied abusing York.

“I never touched her, I never touched any woman,” he told WLS-TV late Thursday. “That’s not my style, that’s not me.”

York stood by her allegations but said Cohen had changed.

“At the time, he was going through a different phase,” she said. “He was a different person than he is now.”

Cohen, a pawnbroker and owner of a cleaning supplies company, shocked the political establishment by beating four state lawmakers to nab the Democratic nomination with 26 percent of the vote. He gained strong name recognition with advertising that featured people who said they found jobs at employment fairs he organized. Thus, he is following Chicago native Barrack Obama’s footsteps into politics by way of community organizing.

Source Article – <a href=”http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35256474/ns/politics-decision_2010/”>Here</a>.