WILL EVERYONE HERE KINDLY STEP TO THE REAR AND LET A WINNER LEAD THE WAY

You may have noticed that the titles of my postings here at ANYTHING BUT TAXES are a bit “unique”. I will use these titles to kick off what will become a monthly contest.

So here goes:

(1) What was my source material for the titles of the November (and all future) postings to ANYTHING BUT TAXES?

(2) One of the titles strays a bit from the source material, although there is a definite link. Identify the title and explain why it is different.

Submit your answers to rdftaxpro@mail.com with “ANYTHING BUT TAXES CONTEST” in the “Subject Line”.

The first five readers who provide the correct answers will receive, as a pdf email attachment, a free copy of my special report SURFIN’ USA.

TTYL

IT HASN’T SNOWED A SINGLE FLURY, BUT SANTA, DEAR, WE’RE IN A HURRY!

It’s that time of year again – when PNC Wealth Management releases its “Christmas Price Index” and we learn the cost of the gifts in the holiday classic “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. Each year I report on the Christmas Price Index in THE WANDERING TAX PRO – and now I will move this report to ANYTHING BUT TAXES.

According to the 23rd annual survey, the cost for “The Twelve Days of Christmas” for 2007 is $19,507, a 3/1% increase over 2006. PNC points out that this increase mirrors the US Consumer Price Index. The CPI is up 2.8% so far this year.
The cost of the individual items are:

* Partridge ($15) in a Pear Tree ($164.99)

* Two turtle doves ($40)

* Three French hens ($45)

* Four calling birds ($599.96)

* Five gold rings ($395)

* Six geese a-laying ($360)

* Seven swans a-swimming ($4,200)

* Eight maids a-milking ($46.80)

* Nine ladies dancing ($4,759)

* Ten lords a-leaping ($4,285.06)

* Eleven pipers piping ($2,213.40)

* Twelve drummers drumming ($2,397.85)

The price of the 5 gold rings is up 21.5% from 2006. According to PNC, this “reflects the general trend of increasing commodity prices in the Consumer Price Index, including gold, In addition, increased fears about inflation and the value of the dollar may have led investors to turn to gold as a safer place to invest their money.”

As “unskilled labor” the eight maids a-milking earn the minimum wage, which has finally been increased for the first time since 1997. Thanks to Congress, the cost of the maids is up 13.6%. This cost will also increase in 2008 and 2009, as the minimum wage increase was a 3-year process.

Most of the “skilled” labor, leapers, pipers and drummers, only saw a small 3-4% increase in their pay. The dancing ladies pay was the same as last year. As I point out each year, the performing artists’ union does a better job for its members than the musician’s union – as the dancers and leapers earn about twice as much as the pipers and drummers.

The price of the four calling birds (aka canaries) is up 25% and that of the six geese-a-laying is up 20% over 2006, while the price of the other birds (partridge, turtle dove, French hen, and swan) remained even with last year’s rates. Food prices have increased over the last year which has had an impact on birds traditionally served as food, like geese. The calling bird increase is a result of higher demand and increased shipping costs.

As part of the annual tradition, PNC also calculates the “true” cost of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” – the total cost of the items gifted as repeated in the verses of the song (i.e. on the 2nd day the giftee received 2 turtle doves and another partridge in a pear tree). The wealthy “True Love” in the song would pay $78,100 this year for all 364 items – up about 4% from last year’s cost of $75,122.

TTYL

EVERYONE WILL LOVE YOU IF YOU BE A SANTA CLAUS!

It appears that this past “Cyber Monday” (the Monday after Thanksgiving) broke all records for online shopping.

As a youth my family was always very organized and efficient when it came to holiday gift giving. I exchanged gifts with my parents, my sister, my bachelor Uncle Ted (my father’s brother), and my “old maid” Great-Aunt Tess (my father and Ted’s aunt). Each Thanksgiving after dinner at a local restaurant we would return to my uncle’s house and exchange “Christmas Lists” on which we each identified exactly what we wanted for Christmas. Considering my sister’s and my limited spending allowance, the lists of the grown-ups always contained several inexpensive items. Each person would, in turn, leave the room while the others would decide who would purchase what.

This was a great system. I never had to wonder what to get my family for Christmas, and, unless there was a size issue, no gifts were ever returned. Plus I was assured that I would get at least some of what I really wanted each year.

We continued with this system through my adult life, after my aunt and uncle went on to their final audit, until we finally decided to no longer exchange gifts at Christmas several years ago (although my mother would still give my sister, my father and I a “stocking” with mostly nominal items – up until they moved into an Assisted Living facility last August).

In my adult life I only added three people to my annual gift list – and also used the list system, at least where my shopping was concerned. I was given a selection of items to choose from, most of which could be purchased online. I would complete my shopping in front of my computer early in December. Now that two of the three have moved to Florida I no longer purchase any Christmas presents for anyone.

For those of you who still shop – you may want to check out the “Jeremy Vohwinkle's Financial Planning Blog” posting on “Tips to Save Money This Holiday Season”.

TTYL

"WELL, THAT’S WHAT COMES FROM TOO MUCH PILLS AND LIQUOR”

The NOW section of this past Sunday’s edition of New York City’s DAILY NEWS featured the “Useless Celebrity Index” – and calculated 2007’s “biggest waste of space”.

The winner was someone I have never heard of – Heidi Montag. She apparently is from the MTV “fake” reality show (aren’t they all?) THE HILLS, which I have also never heard of, and currently makes her living getting paid for appearing at parties and acting badly (the others on the list do it for free). #2, an appropriate distinction, was Kim Kardashian, another stranger to me. She is the daughter of late OJ Simpson lawyer Robert Kardashian and is famous for a sex-tape leaked on the internet.

Speaking of sex-tapes on the internet, as expected Paris Hilton also make the list. Like the top two space wasters, Hilton has absolutely no talent and is basically just “famous for being famous”.

Tabloid darlings Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, also as expected, rounded out the feature. Spears, a once moderately talented singer of bland generic pop songs, is a has-been at age 26. I expect her career, other than as a party girl, is over. Lindsay Lohan is actually a talented actress when sober, and could make something of her life if she cleans up.

Considering Britney and Lindsay’s initial claims to fame, one hopes that Billy Ray Cyrus is a better parent than the Spears and Lohans were!

Where was “the Donald” on the list? Trump certainly wastes as much space in the media as the 5 girls. Like most of them, he is also someone who is famous for being famous. In discussing his latest useless book he said Rosie O'Donnell (he is obsessed with her) ate like a pig at his wedding, Joy Behar has no talent (what does Trump know of talent – he has none himself), George Clooney is short, and Angelina Jolie is no great beauty (what – did she turn him down?). “I really understand beauty. And I will tell you, she’s not - I do own Miss Universe. I do own Miss USA. I mean I own a lot of different things. I do understand beauty, and she’s not,” the arsehole told Larry King.

I am sick and tired of being bombarded with celebrity non-news everywhere I turn. I don’t need to know, and don’t care, that Hulk Hogan’s wife wants a divorce, or that Paris Hilton did a pole dance at a New York City club, or that “Dog” the bounty hunter still loves the son who sold him out, or anything about anyone who ever appeared on a so-called “reality tv” show. Any person who appears on a piece of excrement from the reality tv genre is a total idiot with no self-respect, someone with absolutely no value – certainly not “newsworthy”.

Supposed entertainment news shows such as “Entertainment Tonight” have really hit bottom. They are nothing more than video tabloids, spending as much time on the likes of the woman addicted to plastic surgery or sad anorexic victims as they do on real movie stars. When “ET” first appeared I would watch it every night – now I never do.

Entertainment news is not “Former 'Bachelor' Contestant Arrested” or “Dennis Rodman Sued Again in Las Vegas”. It is “’Enchanted' Casts $50M Box-Office Spell” or “Producers and Broadway Stagehands Resume Talks” or “At 90, Borgnine Stars in Christmas Film”.

TTYL

MY HEART WILL BE BLESSED WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC

My mentor, Jim Gill, would play NYC radio station WRFM - home of "American Popular Standards" - all the time in the office at Journal Square. I learned the art of tax preparation listening to radio personalities Jim Branch and Jim Alewood (sp?), the music of Andy Williams, Jack Jones, Steve Lawrence, Mantovani, Henry Mancini, Barbra Streisand, Perry Como, Nat King Cole and Frank, Dean and Sammy, and learning "Things No One Ever Told You".

The music was relaxing and helped us cope with the stress and frustration of the tax season. To this day I must have music on when I am working - I cannot work in silence.

When WRFM changed to WNSR and soft rock in 1986, after we had moved from Journal Square to Newark Avenue, we switched to WNEW-AM. When WNEW-AM was replaced by Bloomberg we switched to WQEW-AM until Disney took over in 1998. I then tuned in to WMTR-AM from Morristown, whose signal was not always strong enough to get in Jersey City. But that station changed its format to oldies. "American Popular Standards" had disappeared from my radio!

Nowadays with streaming radio playing on the internet one is not limited to the stations that can be picked up on the office radio. In my wanderings on the web I came across Radio Locator, the most comprehensive radio station search engine on the internet. This site has links to over 10,000 radio station web pages and over 2500 audio streams from radio stations in the U.S. and around the world. You enter a “format” (i.e. adult contemporary, country, hip hop, jazz, oldies, rock, top-40, and so on) and get a listing of radio stations from across the USA that feature that format.

This is how I eventually found AM 880 KIXI radio from Seattle Washington, which is a member of the “Music of Your Life” syndicated radio network, where “disc jockeys” Peter Marshall of “Hollywood Squares”, legendary singer Pat Boone, Gary Owens of “Laugh-In”, and Dean Martin’s daughter Deana and her husband play the “music of your life” and reminisce.

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I had seen Peter Marshall, Julie Harris and Charles Nelson Reilly in the Broadway musical “Skyscraper” (music and lyrics by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn and book by Peter Stone) over 40 years ago. On the anniversary of its opening in 1965 Peter Marshall played several of the songs from the musical and talked about his memories of the show.

I also discovered WJAS 1320 AM, an oldies station from Pittsburg PA that every Saturday morning at 9:00 am plays an original cast album on THE BEST OF BROADWAY. This show features Broadway musicals from the 50’s through today. This past Saturday was WICKED. Previous Saturdays have included CALL ME MADAM, THE KING AND I, CAN CAN, GODSPELL, ME AND MY GIRL, THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG, MISS SAIGON, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and HAIRSPRAY.

And of course on Saturday and Sunday from 12 noon to 4:00 PM it is Jonathan Schwartz on WNYC 109.3 FM.

I can now play American Popular Standards and listen to Jack, Steve, Henry, Barbra, Perry, Nat, Frank, Dean and Sammy while I work once again!

As I am writing this post I am listening to Jack Jones singing “Lollipops and Roses”.

TTYL

A LITTLE THIS-A AND A LITTLE THAT-A – WITH THE EMPHASIS ON THE LATTA!

Very little, actually.

+ There was no traffic on the way down to my parents’ assisted living facility at the Jersey shore via Rt 1+9, 9 and 18 on Thursday. And I left at 3:00 PM to avoid traffic on the Parkway on the way home - and did so.

The mid-day meal at the home was good, but not exactly “sumptuous”. Not what I had been used to in the past for a Thanksgiving dinner, but certainly better than last year’s meal from Dunkin’ Donuts! My evening meal was from NATHAN’s at the Parkway rest stop en route home.

+ Jim of BLUEPRINT FOR FINANCIAL PROSPERITY provides a brief primer on the "History of the Indices: Dow, Nasdaq, S&P & More".

+ Say it isn’t so! It seems that the steaming pile of excrement known as “The Apprentice” is returning – this time with “celebrity” contestants. Their careers must really be heading for the toilet if they have to stoop to licking Trump’s boots.

+ Each year in December I report on the annual Christmas Price Index – the cost of the items gifted in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” – over at THE WANDERING TAX PRO. Little did I know that there is a similar Thanksgiving Price Index. Kay Bell, the yellow rose of taxes over at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES reports in her posting “Cranberry Thanks” that “The American Farm Bureau Federation says that menu items for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner -- turkey, stuffing or dressing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings -- will cost more this year. According to the group's 22nd annual informal survey of the prices of turkey day dinner items, the average cost to feed a table of 10 this year is $42.26. That's $4.16 more than last year’s average of $38.10.”

TTYL

LBJ TOOK THE IRT DOWN TO 4th STREET USA. WHEN HE GOT THERE WHAT DID HE SEE? THE YOUTH OF AMERICA ON LSD!

Americans, or at least most of us, are fascinated with acronyms – “a word formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term”. Like FYI for For Your Information.

The world of emails and text messaging has created a whole new appreciation for and vocabulary of acronyms – BTW (By The Way), LOL (Laughing Out Loud), MIRL (Meet In Real Life), TFB (guess). I found an online Internet Acronyms Dictionary and discovered that AAAAA was not a group for drunk drivers but the American Association Against Acronym Abuse.

Government, at all levels, has always been famous for its acronyms. We all know what the FBI, the CIA, and the DMV are. And, thanks to television, we are also aware of SWAT, JAG, CSI and NCIS. The military is especially enamored of the practice. A PFC could be promoted to become a CPO. In military speak PABST does not refer to Blue Ribbon Beer but to Primary Adhesive Bonded Structure Technology. And let’s not forget the infamous WMDs – Weapons of Mass Destruction. Click here for a Military Acronym Directory.

A lonely SSM (Single Straight Male) might place a personal ad for a SWF (Single White Female. Or he might surf the “escort” sites to look for a BBW (Big Beautiful Woman) who provides a GFE (Girl Friend Experience).

Some acronyms have become actual words. A classic example is “snafu”, a military acronym for Situation Normal, All Fouled (not the original word) Up. The word “radar” is actually an acronym for RAdio Detection And Ranging, as the word “laser” is for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

I was told many years ago by, I think, a teacher that the “n” word for persons of Puerto Rican extraction came from a US Immigration category stamped on the papers of certain individuals arriving on Ellis Island – Spanish, Portuguese, Indian and Colored - although I cannot find any real documentation of this online. I do know for a fact that I am a WASP (While Anglo Saxon Protestant).

It is, however, an “urban legend” that the “n” word for Italians came from the fact that, as illegal aliens in the 30s and 40s, they were With Out Papers, or With Out Passport. The real derivation of “wop”, according to Wikepedia, “is the Neapolitan ‘guappo’, meaning dude or thug. The word defines those who belong to the Guapperia o ‘Camorra’, a criminal organization similar to the Sicilian Mafia located mostly in the province of Campania.”

Acronyms are certainly in frequent use in my profession – taxes. The AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) has been around for at least as long as I have been in the business, and is now paired with the non-gift bearing MAGI (Modified Adjusted Gross Income). We have all become familiar with the dreaded AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) lately.

TRA 86 (the Tax Reform Act of 1986) created a whole new set of acronyms. Under TRA 86 a PAL (Passive Activity Loss) needs a PIG (Positive Income Generator). There is ACRS (Accelerated Cost Recovery System) and MACRS (Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System), both the result of FACRS (Foolhardy Acts of Congress under the Ruse of Simplification).

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Many taxpayers save for retirement with either an IRA (Individual Retirement Account), a SEP (Simplified Employee Pension plan) or a SIMPLE (Savings Incentive Match PLan for Employees). One of the more complicated areas of the Tax Code concerns the NOL (Net Operating Loss).

As I have said before at THE WANDERING TAX PRO, I have often found errors in tax returns prepared by a CPA.

I belong to the NATP (National Association of Tax Professionals) and the NSTP (National Society of Tax Professionals) – as well as AAA (Automobile Association of America) and AARP (American Association of Retired Persons). Over the years I have also briefly belonged to the ASTP (American Society of Tax Professionals) and the NSA (National Society of Accountants). I have often attended tax seminars sponsored by the CSEA (California Society of Enrolled Agents).

I have been having fun with acronyms for years. During my 20+ years as the accountant for the NJ Center for Visual Arts in Summit (formerly the Summit Art Center, and now the Center for Visual Arts of New Jersey) I used them on checks, memos and cards to colleagues. It all started when a payday happened to fall on February 14th and I wrote “HVD” on the memo line of the employees’ checks. It took them a while to realize that I was saying “Happy Valentine’s Day”. If payday fell on an employee’s birthday I would write “HASB” (Have A Successful Birthday) or something to that effect on the check. It got to a point that we would send each other messages in only initials and the fun was trying to figure out what was being said.

Back before my mentor Jim Gill retired and handed me his tax practice he had given me a return to work on. Included with the client’s “stuff” was a listing of deductions on which there was one item whose nature I was unsure of. So I wrote “WTF?” next to it and put it in the “Need More Information” box. A few days later Jim said that the client had been in and they were not sure what I had meant – but thought it might be “What’s This For?”. I told him he was close, but it actually stood for “What The F***?”

I use certain specific acronyms in my blog postings. Those of you who read THE WANDERING TAX PRO are aware that I hate GD extensions. A client asked what the GD stood for and I told him “exactly what you think it stands for!” It is not Government Deferred or anything like that. I often speak ill of the DFB’s in Trenton or Washington, a reference to our federal and state elected representatives, and provide the “clean” version as Damned Fool Bureaucrats, although that is not really what it stands for. When I discuss a FU you could interpret this as a Foul Up, but you would be wrong. Again, it is exactly what you think it stands for. FFR is For Future Reference and SGTM is Sounds Good To Me.

Depending on which blog of mine you are visiting, I end each day’s postings with either TTFN (Ta Ta For Now – THE WANDERING TAX PRO), TAFN (That’s All For Now – NJ TAX PRACTICE BLOG), or, as you will see below, TTYL (Talk To You Later).

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FYI, you can find out what any acronym, abbreviation, or initialism stands for at Acronym Finder or Abbreviations.com.

TTYL

CARNIVAL BALLET

While I was driving down Route 1+9 toward the Jersey shore to visit with my folks this morning CREDIT CARD LOWDOWN was posting the 23rd edition of the “Carnival of Money, Growth and Happiness”, which includes my post on Debit vs Credit cards.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

A LITTLE THIS-A AND A LITTLE THAT-A – WITH THE EMPHASIS ON THE LATTA!

+ The production of “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940” by John Bishop at the Bickford Theatre (actually in Morristown and not Madison) on Sunday was entertaining, but…..

The set, a library in a Westchester NY mansion with multiple secret passages, was excellent. The actors were all well cast professionals. I was familiar with the director, Deirdre Yates, from her past work with the Seton Hall Summer Theatre-In-The-Round program, and she is no stranger to comedy or mystery. The script contained a lot of witty dialogue and “inside” theatre and movie jokes, and the plot, involving a serial killer, Nazi saboteurs, undercover agents, and Broadway show people, was relatively plausible and its unfolding handled well. It is just that it somehow seemed a bit slow, particularly the First Act. I really can’t put my finger on it.

I was a bit surprised at the number of empty seats in the audience for the performance, especially as it is not a large theatre like the Paper Mill.

I must point out one glaring historical FU in the script. The radio broadcast that opened the play and set up a part of the plot referred to the FBI and the CIA. While the FBI was around, there was no CIA in 1940. The CIA grew out of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a military intelligence agency that itself was not established until June 1942.

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+ I was looking something up on the Internet Broadway Database site, which provides records of productions from the beginnings of New York theatre until today, when I noticed a “Born On This Date” listing among the items in the right hand margin.

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I looked up November 18 and discovered that I share the birthday with W.S Gilbert (of “…and Sullivan), Imogene Coca, Johnny Mercer Brenda Vaccaro (who I saw on Broadway in HOW NOW DOW JONES – I seem to recall she spent most of the show dressed in only a towel), and Walter Bobbie (who I saw as Nicely Nicely Johnson in the Nathan Lane revival of GUYS AND DOLLS – his last show as an actor before he went on to become a director). No one on the list was born in the same year. An impressive group!

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+ Just thought I would let those of you who are interested know that the annual Jonathan Schwartz radio “Christmas Party”, a tradition since 1970, will be broadcast on Sunday, December 16th on WNYC.FM – New York Public Radio at 93.9 on the FM dial. Jonathan’s Christmas shows always have a very eclectic collection of musical, literary and other guests.

+ I discovered the BankDeals Blog site in a book on the “financial blogosphere”. This blog will keep you updated on the latest deals and news with banks and credit unions. lt lets you know which banks have the best interest rates and who offers the best sign-up bonuses.

I have been telling clients and readers for a while now that online banks offer much higher interest liquid savings alternatives to the pitiful interest offered by local “brick and mortar” banks. My family and I have online savings accounts with ING Direct, Amboy Direct and Emigrant Direct. Many online banks have incentive programs that will give existing accountholders a “referral fee”, and the person you refer a “signing bonus”, for recommending new customers. If you are interested in opening an account with ING, Amboy or Emigrant let me know and I will refer you.

I think I will include the BankDeals Blog in my special report SURFING USA the next time I update it. FYI, SURFING USA is a compilation of useful, interesting and humorous sites I have come across during my travels on the web. The report identifies and describes links to free online calculators, sites on Personal Finance, Tax Planning and Preparation, and the World of Entertainment, as well as websites that are Just For Fun. For only $1.00 I will send you SURFING USA as a “pdf” email attachment.

+ The “Think Smart” page of this past Sunday’s USA Weekend reported on the top ten names for cats. They are, in order, Max, Chloe, Lucy, Tigger, Tiger, Smokey, Oliver, Bella, Sophie, and Princess.

I have had multiple cats, as many as 4 at a time, since my teens. Their names have included Boo, Feeble, George, Sebastian and Irving (from a line in a play “Butterflies Are Free”, a production of which I was working the lights for at the time), Sam, Thelma and Louise (named by my sister – I would probably have chosen June and Louise myself), Sneezey, and, my current roommate, Nosey. I have also shared accommodations with a Fatty and a Nutsie (both cats).

+ Give me a break! Last Sunday’s edition of the NPR game show “Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!” reported that Australian shopping mall Santa’s are being told to no longer say “Ho! Ho! Ho!” because it could be offensive to women.

+ I will be spending Thanksgiving with my sister and parents at mater and pater's assisted living facility. Last year we ended up having Thanksgiving dinner from Dunkin' Donuts (don’t ask), so this year we will be having our holiday meal mid-day at the facility.

TTYL

CARNIVAL BALLET

I have just started ANYTHING BUT TAXES and already it is featured in a blog carnival – the "Festival of Frugality #101 - Highway To Frugal Living Edition" at the RATHER BE SHOPPING BLOG.

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Author Kyle, from Redding, California, tours scenic Highway 101 while bringing you the carnival’s, or rather festival’s, entries. I especially enjoyed the entry “8 Holiday Shopping Tips from The Baglady”, one of the “editor’s picks”.

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Check it out!

ONCE, YES, ONCE IS DELICIOUS – BUT TWICE WOULD BE VICIOUS, OR JUST REPETICIOUS

I mentioned the remake of THUNDERBALL in yesterday’s post, which also starred Sean Connery as James Bond.

Most remakes are at best unnecessary and at worst an insult to the originals. Yet Hollywood continues to crank out mediocre remakes featuring actors who are inferior to the stars of the originals (I am waiting for an announcement that THE WIZARD OF OZ will be remade with Hillary Duff).

While not a bad movie, NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN was totally unnecessary. The sole motivation for making the movie was money – to cash in on Sean Connery returning to the role of James Bond for one last time.

Adam Sandler is no Burt Reynolds, let alone a Gary Cooper (one critic wrote, “Adam Sandler is to Gary Cooper what a gnat is to a racehorse.”). His remake of THE LONGEST YARD was totally unnecessary and his remake of MR DEEDS GOES TO TOWN was an insult to a classic movie.

A literal shot-by-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO added absolutely nothing to the original.

There was even a remake of the classic Cary Grant-Audrey Hepburn romantic thriller CHARADE, perhaps "the" classic film of its genre, titled THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE, which lasted about a day and a half in the theatres, and rightfully so.

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Some remakes are not really remakes - they simply steal the title and a basic plot idea. The producers hope to boost the box office of their movie by evoking memories of a far superior film. The Steve Martin CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN films had absolutely nothing to do with the Clifton Webb original other than the fact that both films are about a family with 12 children, and was, to say the least, an inferior film.

Don’t get me wrong. There have been remakes that have improved and expanded on the original film – though this is the exception and not the rule. In two of the best examples of this exception the remake was done by the same director. Alfred Hitchcock remade his THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH some 22 years after the original. And Frank Capra remade his 1933 film LADY FOR A DAY as POCKETFUL OF MIRALCES in 1961. Although I have not seen the original films, the remakes are certainly top notch classic films.

KING KONG was remade twice. The 1933 original was a breakthrough masterpiece. The first remake, made in 1976, was totally unnecessary, and inferior in every way, even though I was in the film (my friend Howard Bernstein and I were among the crowd that ran across the top of the World Trade Center tower to avoid a falling Kong). The recent “threemake” was better, and relatively respectful to the original.

So, does anyone out there want to suggest a movie sequel that you think was better than the original?

TTYL

IN NEVER NEVER LAND

Forget what the title of the remake of “Thunderball” [aside – a rare, if not the only, occasion where the star, Sean Connery, plays the same main character, James Bond, in both the original and the remake] tells you – there are times when you can, and should, say NEVER.

For example:

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use a debit card to make an online purchase!

A debit card allows you access to the available cash in your checking account to make a purchase. A credit card allows you to borrow money, often at usurious interest rates, to make purchases. With a debit card you cannot spend more than you have.

Several years ago I cut up my credit cards to avoid falling deep into debt at the above mentioned usurious interest rates. I vowed to only use my debit cards, one for my business checking account and one for my personal checking account. I soon learned that there is an important difference between debit and credit cards, and now I use both.

In the past, whenever I had a problem with a credit card charge I would notify the card provider and on my say-so the charge would be automatically removed from my account. On the other side of the aisle, I have heard horror stories from business clients regarding credit card payments for their goods and services.

A client who provided escorted rail travel told me about one of his customers who charged a trip to her credit card. The customer went on the trip and received everything promised in the trip itinerary. However, for some reason the customer did not enjoy the trip as much as expected and told her credit card company to reverse the charge for the fee, which it did. My client was out his fee for the trip after laying out all the costs of travel and accommodations for the unhappy customer. He had to fight long and hard with the credit card company to get his money back.

When I had a problem with a debit card charge a while ago my bank was not as accommodating as the credit card providers had been. It would not automatically remove the debit to my account. I was told I had to resolve the matter with the vendor, and eventually had to sign all kinds of forms to get restitution. I had to fight long and hard with the bank to get my money back.

In the case of a credit card charge the customer receives the benefit of the doubt and the merchant or vendor must prove that the charge was valid, as it should be. With a debit card charge the merchant or vendor receives the benefit of the doubt and the bank customer who was cheated or shorted must prove the charge was invalid.

As the website www.collegeplastic.com points out in an article on debit vs credit cards, "It is much easier to dispute a charge on a credit card than on a debit card. A credit card issuer will remove the charge until a resolution is made, but a debit card charge will not be removed without dealing directly with the merchant."

The reason for the different treatment is because credit card charges are covered under federal and state consumer protection laws, while debit card charges, like ATM activity, are covered under banking laws that pertain to the electronic transfer of funds.

A debit card, which is basically a cash card, should only be used in places where you would normally pay in cash - at restaurants, local supermarkets, stores and theatres, and hotels and motels - instances where you are actually receiving the product or service "in hand" at the point of purchase. A credit card should be used in all cases when you are making a payment in advance, both online and offline, for products or services to be delivered in the future. This way if the product or service is not received as promised it will be much easier to get your money back.

So now, when should you use your debit card to make an online purchase?

NEVER!

Another never - NEVER order printed checks from your bank. You will generally pay through the nose (sounds painful). There are many online and mail order options for check printing that will save you more than 50%!

Click on the “Need Checks” ad in the left hand margin of this blog for a wide selection of checks at great savings over what your bank would charge you.

TTYL

WILLKOMMEN, BIENVENUE, WELCOME!

Welcome to my new blog!

My other blog THE WANDERING TAX PRO is concerned with individual federal and state tax issues. I will use this new blog to discuss other topics of interest to me – pretty much anything but taxes.

Narratives of my post tax-season trips and theatre reviews, which I had in the past posted at THE WANDERING TAX PRO, will now appear here.

Many of the posts to this blog will be in the nature of my regular Saturday WHAT’S THE BUZZ feature at TWTP – links to and comments on news items, blog postings, and websites and pages of interest that I have come across during my “wanderings” on the internet. There will also be a regular feature of RAMBLINGS – general commentary and ranting on all kinds of issues.

Your comments on, questions about and suggestions for this blog’s postings are always welcome.

Today is the anniversary of my birth – so I am off to celebrate by attending the matinee performance of “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940” at the Bickford Theatre in the Morris Museum (I will post a review here next week), followed by a couple of greasy cheeseburgers at “Marco Polo Restaurant” in Summit.

TTYL