Blog Title: Mayren Abashed

New Year's

Firstly -
Quick shout out to a someone special. Happy Birthday!!
You know who you are and I know you like anonymity (sp?)


k onto the post:

In lieu of inacting a new year's resolution myself I
have decided to adopt someone elses. Yes. I know this
is lazy but it fits super well ok.

I am referring to my Geeky Resolution on WIRED.com
Since it is technically is their article you can
read it there.

Suffice it to say that I can apply almost each resolution
to my life and actually say I will have to put conscience
effot into keeping them. rly.

Sean Penn and Gmail

so I peruse CNN.com this morning and find a link to
a funny but true "Onion" story.

The article is here.

The jist of it as I view it is that Sean Penn
the actor got pissed off that he cannot have his
own simple name with gmail.com.
So SeanPenn@gmail.com has already been registered
with another user. The bits of the letter shown
portray Sean Penn as being what i would call livid
with anger at this slight to his person.

((( *WTF yo.. WTF??.* )))

This is not the first time he has voiced outrage that
his name is not available to him for an email address.
He really did write a letter in the Washington Post
calling out the actual owner of the email address
claiming that he wants the owner to 'come forward
immediately, rather than wallowing in the shame of
ignominy of fraud'.

All I have to say to Mr. Sean Penn the actor is -

Get a fucking clue and some common sense dude.
The name Sean Penn is not actually exclusive to you.
(just the rights to your [imho] dismal acting franchise)
Other people have the name. Hell - other actual
actors have the name. Just deal with it and move
on. It's not like people are trying to neccessarily
ride your coattails of Spicoli fame.

We are are just people. Even Mr. Penn is just a guy.
To me he comes off as a jackass but still just a guy.
He's totally allowed to be wrong.

In gamer speak: Sean Penn FTL...
Common Sense FTW!!!!
omgwtfbbq. (lolz)

Gift Gab - What did you get?

I know the holiday season is about family and friends
and hanging out and stuff but many people still give
gifts. Hanukkah(Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, even
Winter Soltice all has some kind of gift giving.

So.... whatcha get?

:P

-I got the full 7 seasons of Buffy:The Vampire Slayer
on DVD in an awesome black velvet Boxed collector's
edition set. :D

-I also got the first 3 Volumes of the Trade Paperback
Graphic Novels for Buffy : Season 8. (it's pretty
damn good)

-Extreme Jenga set (cause it's hella fun to play
Jenga after having waaay too many espressos)

- 7 inch Digital photo picture frame with remote control.
(it's pretty cute and can hold as many pics as I have
room on a SD micro card - sweeet)

-set of Princess Collection crystal wine glasses that
have a simple but pretty flower/leaf etchings

-set of silver winestoppers with stained glass art on
top. One a Butterfly and my fave; a Dragonfly.

-new WD Caviar® Green SATA hard drive 640GB
It's supposedly a green product because it reduces
power consumption upto 40% and lowers operating temps.
(shrug) i see from the link that it retails for around
$80 bucks right now. Sweet deal
(my old harddrive was only 80GB and I gave it to my
hubby to add into his compy - so we're recycling)

- new 512MB video card for my desktop
(still old stuff is being recycled to others)

- 4 GB of RAM for the desktop. (old stuff is also
being recycled to other's computers)
see the old DDR stuff is about to be hard to find and
I use DDR2 so I needed to get the max for my board
while it's dirt cheap. My desktop kicks big booty

-new leather desk chair (luv my hubby)



so as you can see - i totally beleive in upgrading
computers vs tossing them. I love throwing hardware
and software together by hand and forming a brand
new item that is hella great on the cheap.

Since my hubby and I were buying each other new
computer components anyways.... and we have
some spare cases around we have built a new
computer from the ground up for our cousin
Nancy. She's adorable and i love her to death
even if she's an in-law.
She's using a computer that's 11 years old and
slower in all it's movements than a dialup 28.8
modem (a true comparison for all my geeks out there)

She really deserves an updated model plus
we have set her up with a case and power
supply that we can always keep upgrading for her.
It will be her birthday gift since her bday is
in a few weeks. The CPU rocks.


ok - enough preening over my ill-gotten gains
of the holiday season .. muahahaha.

What did you get?

I missed a Muppet Crimmas special???

Crap!

I missed some Muppet Christmas special that aired
on TV. Has anyone seen it? Was it good?
Is it worth throwing it onto my Netflix Queue?
(well of course it's the muppets but lately they
have been uhm .. poorly written... yah. that's it)

I can't beleive I missed this. *smacks self with
Animal's drum stick*

Happy Holidays All

Just wishing everyone a very happy holiday season.
*hug*


I know I know i'm a broken record but still

It's my fave holiday comedy song

Dear Santa Pawz

Dear Santa Pawz,

Mai namez Livia.
Iz bin very gud kitteh dis yeer.
Mai hoomans iz still alive and kickin, with onlee
teeny scratches that was they’z own fawlt.
Teh chairz and stuffs in mai howse R not
torn up muches and Iz git yelled at very little.

Pleez send lotz of toys and mices for me
and mai brudder Guster to play wif.
Wee’z also like sum tastee chikin treetz.

Luv,
Livia



P.S.

Brian Thompson the Actor

I've had the chance to observe Brian Thompson today.
I was at Fry's Electronics in Burbank, CA contemplating
a new hard-drive. I think i want a Terrabyte.

This guy is still in good shape, kind, and a nice person.

When you live in Burbank, you end up running into many
celebs past and present and it's always a joy to find
them being nice and down to earth. I think some celebs
get a raw deal when they are lumped together with
the bad ones.

Brian Thompson. You have a fan in me. You are a good
person and I wish you much success and hope your new
movies "Dark Games" and "Roney's Point"
do well for you.

I have liked Brian Thompson's acting since the movie
"Fright Night 2". I don't know if it's coincidence
or by design that he has had many Vampire type roles.

There was "Fright Night 2", the amazing Eddie Fiori in
"Kindred the Embraced", and several episodes on
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

Anyways, Mr. Brian Thompson is very talented and
he's a good guy. Huzzah for cool celebs.

oh... *giggle* by the way. Mr. Thompson... uhm
you have a very sexy voice. *giggle*

His Website is here

Looking for the Holidays

I'm looking for the Holidays or rather the
holiday spirit. It's really hard to find.

I'm not a Christ-mass fan. I'm just super
jazzed about the supposed feeling of joy
and togetherness with all peoples that can
sometimes happen this time of year.

I've got several things working against me
in the search for the "holiday spirit".
It's a depressing list and I would rather
focus on the possible solutions to my
problem.

In my search for the special holiday feeling
-I will start listening to all my favorite
holiday music and more. I will broaden my
scope to include other countries and span
all times not just the moldy-oldies.
(gatta love iTunes Radio for this)
-I will decorate my house to reflect the
cozy and funn stuff.
-I will make up a HUGE batch of my world
famous Snowman Soup. (special hot cocoa mix)
-I will start baking for my office
-I will find a way to be kinder and more
appreciative every day to all around me.
(ya i should do this all the time but
it doesn't hurt to focus on this season
and let the love ooze from there)
-I will look for some local ways to give
back to the community because it makes
me feel all warm and fuzzy.
-I have sent out holiday cards so a few
of you will receive them soon.
-Decorate the office and set up the Tree
symbol for all.

ok i think that's a good checklist to
start with.

Just writing it down has helped me
have a lighter mood already.

Crimmas Search 08 in effect yo.

Holiday 20 MeMe

I got this MeMe from EdgyMama who may or may not be
the originator.
Feel free to Tag yourselves if you wish.

--------------------------------------

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
#1 Egg Nog is gross.
#2 Snowman Soup of course!
(it's special hot chocolate I put together
each year with tons of marshmallows)

2. Letter to Santa?
I never have. hmm.

3. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under
the tree?
Crimmas isn't Crimmas without wrapping.
(even if it's duct tapped with newspaper)

4. Colored lights on your tree/house or white?
Multi-colored all the way baby!

5. Do you hang mistletoe?
Aren't they poisonous?

6. When do you put your decorations up?
Black Friday after Thanksgiving

7. What is your favorite holiday dish (non-dessert)?
all the cool little hors d'oeuvres - so many
ingenius little bites. I wish there was a
restaurant that you could go get a tray of
different Amuse Bouche. I love the idea of a
teeny Perfect bite.

8. Favorite holiday memory as a child:
I was 9 and Spies and Spy gear was all the
rage with my friends. I don't know why but
Spies are cool and keep coming back every now
and then. Ok so I found ways to get into EVERY
single present under the tree - find out what
I was getting AND put everything back perfectly.
Then on Crimmas morning I was able to point
at each gift and tell the family what it was
seemingly Clairvoyantly.

Ever since then I've always had this nack of
knowing what each of my gifts are. It's just
something i've cultivated over the years.
I stopped having to unwrap and rewrap them
a long time ago because there are always
other clues.

Seriously - it's more fun than the gift itself.


9. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I've always known that Saint Nick was a real guy once
who was cool with toys and thats it. I was unfortuantely
given Bible-thumping family in the Baptist and
Catholic areas, so they thought Santa Claus was
a heretic on the Baptist side and a Saint on the Catholic
side.

10. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yes. I like to sleep in on Christmas Day.

11. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Changes each year a little. I just eyeball it
and re-arrange until i think it's cute.
oh. I never use Iceicles... you know those
mylar strips of doom. They seem gaudy to me.

12. Can you ice skate?
Nope.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
When I was young I got a cherry red mini
boombox that had a tape deck/AM-FM Radio
that you could record the radio onto a tape or
even people cause it had a built in MIC.
I had it for years until my little bro
put it next to a space heater and melted it.


14. What’s the most important thing about the
holidays for you?
Catching up and hanging out with family.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Hello Dollies like my Gramma used to make.
I keep up the tradition as much as possible
in memory of her. (love you Gramma)

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Torturing my hubby and/or Brother about what
I got them during the countdown to opening
presents.

17. What tops your tree?
Ususally an Angel - but this year it's
a felt yellow star.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
Both, but i preferr to giving to kids because it's
hella fun.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Tied - White Christmas by Bing Crosby
& Rocking Around the Christmas Tree.
Regardless of how many times they are played
I find myself singing along.


20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
ehh. on the fence aboust this one.
I guess it just depends on the cane.
Some are yum and some are yuck.

Techie Dreamin'

For some reason I have been longing to go back
into the Techie side of life in the Theatre.

Techie = a person who works backstage to help
produce a show in the Theatre. They rig lights,
make props, maintain sets, become dressers to
the actors, run lines with the actors, audio,
makeup, wardrobe, fetch coffee and the occasional
piece of duct tape. In short(er)-All that goes
into a show that is not acting, singing, dancing
or Directing is where the Techie's domain lies.


I was a Techie at The Globe of The Great Southwest.
It's a recreation of The Globe Theatre and
Anne Hathaway Cottage (with a roof) located
on the campus of Odessa Community College.
The address is cute too: 2308 Shakespeare Road,
Odessa, Texas 79761
((yes i'm from Texas originally))
((yes Odessa is in the armpit of West Texas
desert - also known as Slow-detha and sister
city to Midland, TX where my mom now lives woot))


It's actually a famous theatre because of its
remarkable likeness to the real thing.
Kids and people come from all over
the nation to see some of the productions.
They have a top billed
National Shakespeare Company Troupe come
through every year to put on a show, and it's
home to many shows and of course "The Juliettes".
(( The Juliettes are older ladies who rally
community support for the Theatre and do stuff
like keep the antique costumes and buttons in
good order - organize fund raisers - get in the
way of good acting... i mean. They are lovely
old ladies who care for the place))


I used to have keys to the whole place.
Getting the place prepped for rehearsal
was kinda spooky sometimes. More on that
later though. :P

Working as a Techie at the Globe was some of
my favorite memories.

It's December already?!

I hope everyone's Holiday went well.
I had alot of time at home without any family or extra
people. Just me, the hubby, and the kittens. Perhaps
that is just what I needed.

I had originally set out for the holiday weekend to
get stuff accomplished. I had a list of stuff.
Not a single thing got accomplished.

I wasted an entire 4 day weekend.

I can't tell whether I'm ashamed or if I really
needed to hermit out and not talk to anyone.

I didn't touch a computer let alone log onto
my email. I only made one phone call in a pick
up food order. Seriously. I lived really unplugged
for 4 days. Played alot of Rummy and Dominoes.
Played alot with the kittens. Got in some reading.

It seems wierd to me now. i dunno.
So anyways..
Today I find myself in the first week of December
and I don't even have my Christmas cards done.
*FLAIL*

Back to the grind eh?

Happy Turkey or Tofurkey Day to all

Listening to KROQ - currently playing "Hitchin' a Ride"
by Green Day.

Wanna wish my cousin Eric a very Happy Birthday tomorrow.

I am thankful for:

having a job so far.
my hubby having a job.
having more debt paid off and a good credit score.
having two adorable kittens whom I love very much.
my brother having an awesome fiancee that I like as well.
all my friends.

There is much more to be thankful for but this
is just a little blog. :)

Office Potluck, yay

Today is our annual office potluck. yay.
It would be nice if the people who sort of demanded
that it take place on monday instead of another day actually
attend. Oh no. That's not easy enough. I've been informed
this morning that their little clique will most likely be too busy
with work and just pop up for food and go eat at their desks.

Ya. That's awesome right?

Not to mention that today is the RSVP deadline for our
upscale holiday party and i've got 1 who got two invitations
yet still won't give up the info if she'll be making it or not.
Like she's waiting to see what other offers come in.
*scoff*
IMHO:
Look. It's just good manners. You wanna go to the party
or not? If you say yes, then you have to tell any further
requests for that night that you have plans right? It's really easy.
If you say no to the invitation then go ahead. Just don't
think that you are end and be all of everyone's world.
Know that the party is still happening without you.

RSVPing to an event that gave out invitations well ahead
of time PLUS a save the date is just good manners.
RSVP no or yes. simple. clean. no harm done.

***we now return you to your usual blogging. This has
been a rant brought to you by Abashed Inc. and the
letter Z, the number 13, and viewers like you ***
:)

Life According to Wall Street. :(

My life has been dictated by Wall Street these days.
I work in the financial sector of our nation and these days I
work harder and harder for less pay with no hope of even
a raise for inflation in the future.
Every day there is a crisis because the Market is so flighty.

This means i have less time for fun stuff like gaming, blogging,
and it's a luxury to read for entertainment. I think I'll
be able to squeeze in a few game sessions before the
holiday season is in full swing and then a long rest from
RPG (due to people being with family which is important).
I will swing back to the NDS and Wii gaming for the holidays.

Anyways. So the Market has my life - at least my work life
and the stress from work life wrapped around it's commodities
for awhile. yay.

Twilight Fever

So Previously I've stated that I never intended to like
the Stephenie Meyer written Twilight books. Alas, I do.
It hit me completely unaware. I read through the entire
series including the partial 5th book the author posted on
her website in less than 5 days. I am even going to see the
movie. Heck I never go to the movies anymore- and this
time I'm going on opening weekend.

I am a sucker for a good love story.

*le sigh* I'd say that i feel sad and pathetic for falling
into something so trendy as a few vampire novels
and a movie but I'm seriously unashamed. I love these
novels and characters. (plus I'm technically not considered
a young adult anymore but shhhh on that ok. it's not
widely known)

Ninja Joe #002

Today's post has been sponsored by the
letter E.

I miss the original Sesame Street, you know, before
the masses of little kids got hooked on the drug
called Elmo. I miss pre-Elmo Sesame Street back a
whole minute before PBS sold out.
Muppets are awesome.

I actually had a whole different update post in mind
but forgot it. I've got a serious sinus headache
rocking my brain so my senses are a bit dull today.

Good luck to all those who will be hanging out on
WoW tonite for the new release of whatever it is.
I had friends totally bail on gaming tonite for it.
It's ok though. I understand that WoW is like crack
for many many people. The only reason I'm not playing
tonite is because I've never played WoW. So i've
never had to fight the urges to rejoin society after
trying for 3 hours to join the server of my choice
just to find out my raiding party found a replacement
for me and went off on the quest without me.

(i think that's the vernacular over there *shrug*)

I Fixed my Win Vista Problems.

I bought a Vista Lappy From Dell like 1.6 yrs ago.
Immediately I took off as much junk as possible and
bought an extra GB of RAM because the OS sucks the
RAM dry just by turning it on.
Like everyone else - I've gone through alot of problems
with Vista. In general... It sucks. It's super huge
on the Harddrive to do less in alot of cases. Sucks
up the memory like a sponge...etc. etc

Ok So I had a toughie virus. No problem usually but
it slipped by everything. I decided to reformat my
harddrive.

As soon as i repartitioned my drive to seperate my data
from my programs and reloaded Windows Vista I was in
heaven. It's not as sweet as XP but I can finally
operate at the speed I'm used to with less Ram suckage
and 80% better processing on the whole. (meaning 80%
better than the Vista hell I was in before the reformat
- cause let's face it, XP is still a better product)

It's such a noticable difference that I began looking
for the reason why the machine ran soo much better.
I found that all vestiges of Dell were gone. poof. nada.
zip. Also all the extra programs you thought came with
Windows were gone. So apparently they were Dell Added
programs.

To get back to running full ahead I only had to add
my MS Office Suite, all the Adobe junk, Firefox, and
GIMP 2. The only thing I am missing is Army Builder
for Warhammer Rosters and I'm sure the Hubby will
re-add it soon.

I use my desktop as a Storage / workhorse (cause it kicks a$$)
so all the important junk is there.

Done.

Now Lappy 2.0 starts and shuts down with speed and precision.
Gone are the constant hassles. All it took was to give it
a lobotomy and get rid of the extra junk Dell burdened me
with. I just found out that HP, and all those other companies
do the same thing. So I urge all Advanced users to also
lobotomize their Vista and things work just fine.


-----

Side note: Happy Veteren's day. I think Vets should get
treated better for the sacrifices they make for our country,
but that's a whole new Abashed subject...

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I see no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!


A penny loaf to feed the Pope
A farthing o' cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down.
A fagot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar.
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head.
Then we'll say ol' Pope is dead.
Hip hip hoorah!
Hip hip hoorah hoorah!

-------- other variants here

Tonite I shall watch V for Vendetta.

Several links for the holiday:
Wikipedia
Guy Fawkes for Kids
A Guy Fawkes Bio
The inspired Award..
Oragami How-to video for Fawkes mask

Response to why "Legend of the Seeker" Stinks

I was going to respond in comments of my last post but
it got too wordy. I felt it deserves a post.


I originally didn't want to read the books thinking they ripped off
"Wheel of Time", but as time wore on - and I went scrabbling
through the house for anything to read that was new - I came
across my Husband's collected cache of this series. I havn't
read the last 3 books because it's not appealling to me yet, also
the hubby doesn't own them yet. hehehe.

So I'm more of an appreciative reader than an uber fan.

I just get sooo pissed off when TV or Movies rape a book at it's
like I see red.

Harry Potter: The beginning movies were good for me - the last
movie just sucked. It's becoming more of an acting
issue for me than a book vs Movie thing. just my pov.

True Blood: There are quite a few divergences in this
book vs TV - however, I'm enjoying the TV series.
I can objectively take in the main plot that they've
mostly left intact and savor the new plot they've created
with the secondary characters. I don't know if I can stay
this happy with the series as the preview for the
new episode next week does not look promising.
Also it's a super short season so we'll see if they get
to continue.

TodayI begin to read the Stephanie Meyer's series.
I'm trying not to hate it and be biased against it before
I've even started the journey.

"Legend of the Seeker" Stinks

I've just finished the premiere of "Legend of the Seeker"
and I'm almost in tears because it's so bad.

Yes I am a fan of the Terry Goodkind books (Sword of
Truth Series). No- I did not only judge this show as
a complete piece of crap just because I like the books.

As a stand alone show - It's too fast paced and you can't
keep up with who is who and why they are doing what
they are doing. On that - you really need to have the
previous knowledge of the books to make any sense out
of it all.
The acting is ok, but nothing special. The Richard character
is extremely whiny. My hubby says "If I wanted to watch
more Whiny, bitchy people I'd watch Star Wars 2 &3"

I could gripe, bitch, and moan for weeks on how horrible
this series is, How it rapes and pillages a great book series,
how as a stand alone it's plot gaps are so large that the
proverbial Mack Truck could drive through them....

Suffice it to say that both as a stand alone series and
as a show extremely loosely based on a loved book series:
It fails. Thus i think it stinks.

Crappily Yours,
Mayren.

Ninja Joe #001

For my BroBro:

Facebookin'

ya it's quiet around here in Mayren Abashed.
It's cause i've been swept up into the Facebook
craze.

It's more secure than Myspace.
It's got tons of social games
the GUI is great.
the plain ole' UI is clean and wonderful.

Lately my passions have been Knighthood and
the new round of HATCHLING!!!!

Fun with IMs part 8

Co-Worker Friend #1: Heard your laugh...was going to shoot
lethal rubber bands at you...but saw you weren't alone.

Co-Worker Friend #1: Sneaky, that. Bringing living shields
with you. Hmph.

Co-Worker Friend #1: May have to employ that tactic myself
if my force field is ever compromised--I mean...
How deplorable of you Marquessa!

MayrenAbashed: indeed Colonel. I have been forced (coerced)
into finding new stateegery against lethal projectiles.

MayrenAbashed: just a heads up - when you walk through
my door tonite, your force field will be rendered
temporarily disfunctional

MayrenAbashed: All attempts to protect your person from
harm shall be met with very furry and lethal kitten purrs,
cuddles, and claws

MayrenAbashed: you will writhe in the cuteness until
you rot..................

MayrenAbashed: i mean... until we get dice out
to play our wonderful D&D game.
Co-Worker Friend #1: ((LOL))

The Facts about the U.S. Bailout plan

So you've all heard about the $700 billion dollar
bailout plan, but do you know what the actual terms
of the bailout plan are?

On 10/03/2008 President Bush signed into law H.R. 1424,
known as the Emergency Economic Stablilization Act of 2008.
The Secretary of Treasury will establish a "TARP" or
"Troubled Asset Relief Program" to purchase troubled
assets from financial institutions. All Mortgage-backed
securities acquired thru TARP will be filtered through
a new plan to mitigate the foreclosures and encourage the
mortgage servicers to modify the loans thru "Hope for
Homeowners" and other programs.


#1 - the $700 billion dollar plan is not the whole
amount. It will be released in installments.
Upto $250 billion can be used immediately and upon
Presidential certification of need, the Secretary
may access an additional $100. To use the final $350
the President would need to transmit a written report
to Congress requesting the authority. The Secretary
can use this authority unless within 15 days the
Congress passes a joint resolution of disapproval.
All of these authorities to purchase and guarantee assets
terminate on 12/31/2009. It can be extended for one year
by the Secretary of Treasury upon certification of need
to Congress.

So as you can start to see; the Secretary of Treasury
will be the main person controlling the use of assets.
And that person will change with the new elected President.
((So it matters who we vote in people))
Also the Comptroller General of the US will be involved to
report back to Congress on the "TARP" plan.

Supposedly the profits from the sale of troubled assets
are to be used to pay downthe national debt that was raised
from 10 trillion to 11.3 trillion dollars.

the bill also:
-Raises the FDIC and National Credit Union Share Insurance
deposit insurance limits from $100,000 to $250,000 -
but only until 12/31/2009.

-Allows gain or loss recognized by certain financial institutions
from the sale or exchange of "applicable preferred stock"
to be treated as ordinary income or loss.
"Applicable preferred stock" is preferred stock of Fannie Mae
or Freddie Mac that was held by the applicable financial
institution on 9/6/2008 or was sold or exchanged by that
institution on or after 1/1/2008 and before 9/7/2008.

- Requires that in 5 years the President will submit a proposal
to Congress that recoups from the financial industry any
projected losses to the taxpayer
((that means we all get tazed now and 5 years from now they will
find a way to cut tax payers a break but they just have to START
on the plan to help out tax payers that's not the actual
implementation of it))

----

Yay. there are also some tax credits being extended that might
affect some people. Like the Above-the-line deduction on your
taxes for Higher Education expenses through 2009.

Additional standard deduction for state and local property
Taxes is also extenended

-- misc.
-New rules include the relaxed writeoff rules for film
and TV productions (so producers can write off more lunches)
- modified rules for the penalty of understatement
of a taxpayer's liability by a tax return preparer
(H&R block's favor)

- mental health parity rules (this one is cool. private
insurance plans that offer mental health benefits as
part of the coverage would be required to offer such
benefits on par with medical-surgical benefits.
Any cost-sharing or co-pay limits to benefits must
not be more restrictive than those imposed on
medical-surgical services.)

-liberalized rules for refundable child tax credit
(currently a taxpayer receives a $1,000 credit for
each qualifying child under 17, plus if the
child credit is greater than the amount of the income
tax for that tax-payer in that year, then the taxpayer
may receive an extra refund if the income threshold is met.
The threshold for 2008 is $12,050 before and now it is
$8,500. - so if you have kids you get a bigger tax break)

-Extentions for alternative energy credit, residential energy
efficent credit, and other tax breaks for energy efficent
measures. ((this one is cool actually))


just facts good and bad about the bill that was passed.