For most of the 92 years since the federal income tax was established, the states followed Washington’s lead concerning how to tax people and businesses. That ended in 1981, when 21 states adopted their own rules on depreciation in response to a Reagan tax cut. Many of these renegades — California being a notable exception — later went back to a more uniform tax code. But the precedent was set. When Congress began slashing federal rates in 2001, many cash-strapped state legislatures opted to go their own way once again.
Tax experts call this “decoupling.” That’s a jargony name for a practice that can — and most likely will — cause you to run screaming to your accountant. “It is a zoo,” says Jere Doyle, an estate-planning and tax expert in Mellon Financial’s Boston office. “Everybody thinks ‘federal, federal, federal,’ and assumes that the same rules will apply at the state levels. But they do not
Daily Archives: June 14, 2005
Steve Jobs Odyssey
A transcript of Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Speech, given this past weekend.
Errol Morris Interview
Errol Morris discusses advertising and his recent documentary, the Fog of War in this interview.
HuffPost: But there’s certainly been criticism, especially with McNamara, that you may not have pushed hard enough.
Morris: In truth, I wish I had done something like that when he went on and on about the Gulf of Tonkin incidents. Didn’t we try to provoke them? A number of people have criticized me and the movie for giving a false impression or what they consider to be a false impression of those events.
HuffPost: You and Eric Alterman had a conflict about this issue in the film, about footage that may or may have existed showing McNamara discussing secret intercepts regarding the Gulf of Tonkin.
Morris: Right. Alterman just engaged in hand-waving. It’s sort of, “You’re not a historian so why should I listen to you?” I’m not a big enthusiast of that kind of argument. It’s like in Mr. Death, Fred Leuchter, the Holocaust denier, has a degree from BU in history. Does that mean that his historical views are more valid? No.
I’m always puzzled when people ask if a film is true or false. Fog of War, true or false? Fahrenheit 911, true or false? Sorrow and Pity, true or false? Isn’t what interests us about documentary film, that there is a claim that relates to the world and hence does have truth value? You can think about things that are said by people and think, is this true, is this false, what is this?
Microsoft Censoring Chinese Blogs
BBC:
Weblog entries on some parts of Microsoft’s MSN site in China using words such as “freedom”, “democracy” and “demonstration” are being blocked.
Chinese bloggers already face strict controls and must register their online journal with Chinese authorities.
Microsoft said the company abided by the laws, regulations and norms of each country in which it operates.
Rebecca MacKinnon has more