ARPad95
ARPad95's JournalWinema Electric website is public again after going private in the wake of the "immense backlash"
against employee and family member, Jared Schmeck, who pulled the LGB Christmas Eve stunt. As with every other RW Christo-fascist and narcissistic person and family group, the statement put out by the Schmeck family, is a bunch of drivel about the need to defend their 1A rights against "the agitators, against the vile techniques used to destroy the opposing view." In other words, they're being persecuted and everyone who doesn't act and think like them are the abusers. Yeah, right, We never would have known a single thing about you and your business if it weren't for your precious Jared making a mockery of a national Christmas Eve tradition involving the president of the USA, Santa Claus and children. Obviously, the irony is lost on them.
They start off by stating
Amidst immense backlash, hatred, doxing, threats, and other attacks, we want to make our position in this matter abundantly clear:
We stand with each and every person’s right to free speech.
We stand with Jared Schmeck.
"Well, isn't that special?" [channeling SNL's Church Lady]
I won't direct link to it in keeping with DU rules, but here's the correct URL with spaces if you want to check it out:
winema electric inc com
I do think you should click on the link below without the "inc" because it takes you to a truly special site:
https://www.winemaelectric.com
I do NOT know if it's a legit site. I only link to it because of its obviously pro-Democratic message.
It's actually very simple and it's the NACUBO that mucked it up.
Here are the essential IRS instructions for Form 1098-T that these mid to large size institutions of higher learning could not figure out on their own because 1098-T reporting is outsourced and the NACUBO is relied on to "instruct" them instead of the IRS:
Box 1 - Enter the total amount of payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses from all sources during the calendar year. The amount reported is not reduced by scholarships and grants reported in box 5.
Box 5 - Enter the total amount of any scholarships or grants that you administered and processed during the calendar year for the payment of the student’s costs of attendance. Scholarships and grants generally include all payments received from third parties (excluding family members and loan proceeds).
I bet you can easily figure out what amounts should have gone in Box 1 (hint: no math skills required) and Box 5 of the 2019 Form 1098-T based on my child's 2019 Spring semester when my child was a senior and did not live on campus (i.e., no payments were made to the college for room & board):
XYZ College 2019 Spring Term tuition only = $21,989.00
Payments received by XYZ College for tuition during calendar year 2019:
Source 1 Scholarships = $13,676.00
Source 2 Grants = $2,850.00
Source 3 Federal Direct Student Loans = $2,721.00
Source 4 Balance due and paid by parent = $2,742.00
This is the what the college reported to the IRS on my child's 2019 Form 1098-T:
Box 1 = $3,251.38 (very incorrect oddball amount and totally laughable because at the very least it's supposed to include Box 5 amount)
Box 5 = $16,526.00 (correct)
The end result of this was that XYZ College reported to the IRS that it received only $3,251.38 in tuition payments on behalf of my child. Therefore, the scholarships and grants reported in Box 5 that exceeded the tuition amount reported in Box 1 by $13,274.62 are considered taxable income and made me ineligible to claim the education expenses deduction I was entitled to on my 2019 income tax return!
On top of that I had to deal with the arrogantly incompetent and ignorant college staff members involved in 1098-T reporting in the Student Financial Services office and the Assistant Counsel who responded to me out-of-the-blue as an intimidation tactic to get me to go away. And all they did by stupidly ignoring me and all of my requests for a CORRECTED 2019 Form 1098-T was open up a big ol' can of worms because the college's incorrect Form 1098-T reporting goes way back. That's why I can't wait for the IRS to send me an audit letter so this college and all of the other ones who have brushed off parents and students when it comes to Form 1098-T reporting can finally get their collective selves heavily penalized by the IRS. It would be a HUGE windfall for the US Treasury!
By the way, I was once the expert responsible for 1099 tax reporting (several different forms including one that is a whole lot more complicated then the comparatively simple 1098-T) for a life insurance company so I know whereof I speak. 
I will WELCOME the letter I'm expecting from the IRS for what I call the Form 1098-T Fiasco
Form 1098-T is the one colleges and universities use to report payments RECEIVED for tuition (and other qualified expenses) during the calendar year (= tax year). The student or parents (if student is a dependent) must then use the Form 1098-T to complete Form 8863 to claim the Lifetime Learning Credit or Tuition and Fees Deduction on their income tax return. Of course, the amounts on the 1098-T forms the colleges and universities file with the IRS and furnish to the students need to be correct for the student or parents to properly complete the Form 8863. The IRS can assess stiff penalties if the colleges and universities file and/or furnish incorrect 1098-T forms. And even stiffer penalties if the IRS finds there is an intentional disregard of IRS tax reporting requirements.
Prior to Tax Year 2018, colleges and universities could use a method that allowed them to report tuition (and other qualified expenses) BILLED on an academic year basis (i.e., Fall term - Spring term). This was a problem because two tax years were crossed and it was confusing for students/parents and caused the IRS major headaches. So after years of the colleges and universities resisting the IRS' push for them to change over to the payments RECEIVED during the calendar year method (i.e., Spring term - Fall term), the IRS forced them to switch starting with the 2018 Form 1098-T. That ended up being a complete cluster F*** because the colleges and universities relied solely on an outside national association (the same one that whined to the IRS about it being too much of a burden for its membership to switch methods) for Form 1098-T reporting guidance instead of going straight to the IRS.
Here's the March 2020 final correspondence I sent to the arrogant and condescending Assistant Counsel at my child's college after going up the willfully ignorant chain of command in the Student Financial Services department (all identifying info removed):
Dear Mr. [Assistant Counsel],
Seriously? This is the official response from XYZ College? All it proves is you, too, are unqualified to communicate with me regarding IRS Form 1098-T reporting requirements. Selectively quoting from IRS Publication 970 to bolster your cohorts' delusional take on Form 1098-T reporting is laughable, albeit a stunning example of the Dunning-Kruger Effect in an institutional setting.
XYZ College is the FILER, not the recipient, of Form 1098-T. As such, the only instructions you should be quoting and following to the letter are the ones in the attached IRS publications: 2019 General Instructions for Certain Information Returns and 2019 Instructions for Forms 1098-E and 1098-T. (I have also attached my colorful, easy-to-understand 2019 Form 1098-T Instruction Manual if you find the IRS publications too daunting.)
I realize the Student Financial Services staff is dependent on Ellucian-Banner and, in turn, Ellucian-Banner receives its Form 1098-T reporting instructions (more like, interpretations) from the National Association of College and University Business Officers. However, it is the IRS that is the ultimate authority here and the only authority to be consulted when serious problems with the way Form 1098-T reporting is being done (past and present) are brought to XYZ College's attention.
In my expert analysis, the NACUBO has made a mess out of the transition from Box 2 to Box 1 reporting (and it has been vigorously resisting the IRS's enforcement of the Box 1 method for years). In its October 15, 2018 advisement to member colleges and universities, NACUBO Provides Customizable 1098-T Letter (to students and families), the NACUBO included blatantly false Box 1 reporting information, "...we will report in Box 1 the amount of QTRE you paid during the year." It should have stated "...we will report in Box 1 the amount of QTRE we received from all sources during the year." Even the blank sample 2018 Form 1098-T included with the NACUBO's sample letter states, "Payments received for QTRE," in Box 1!
There is absolutely no excuse for the NACUBO to get it so wrong in its various publications. On top of that, it promotes a very dismissive attitude toward the IRS among its membership and with Ellucian-Banner. The NACUBO is the source of the Box 1 confusion, not the IRS. The only change the IRS wanted colleges and universities to make is to report on a calendar year basis (Spring Term to Fall Term) instead of on an academic year basis (Fall Term to Spring Term) to avoid crossing two tax years and the resultant confusion that method created.
Instead of spending your time crafting letters that make you look foolish (e.g., it is impossible for my child's 2019 Form 1098-T Box 1 amount to be correct because it does not include the scholarships and grants reported in Box 5 and using "semesters billed" in your table heading when "billed" applies only to the Box 2 reporting method), I suggest you will better serve XYZ College by vetting the NACUBO's Form 1098-T Information Reporting "guidance" and customizable letters to students for accuracy and compliance with IRS tax reporting requirements. After all, it is not the NACUBO nor Ellucian-Banner that are subject to the penalties assessable under IRC 6721 and IRC 6722. https://www.irs.gov/irm/part20/irm_20-001-007r
I have attached a listing of the correct amounts (in green) that XYZ College should have reported on my child's 2015, 2016, 2017 (2 options), 2018 (2 options based on option selected for 2017) and 2019 Form 1098-Ts. I expect XYZ College to furnish CORRECTED Form 1098-Ts for all five tax years immediately. My child's mailing address through December 31, 2019 was [ ].
In case you still doubt my vastly superior tax reporting knowledge and expertise, I have attached two sets of my work memos detailing direct communications I had with the IRS. In both cases, the IRS representatives were more than willing to be helpful. XYZ College would do well to follow suit and straighten out the mess the NACUBO has put it in.
Sincerely,
[ARPad95 followed by the 4-letter acronym that signifies I'm highly educated in the financial services industry]
Suprisingly (and timely considering MineralMan's post), just yesterday I received an audit notice from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance stating I owe $243.59 for Tax Year 2019:
Our records indicate the student received scholarships, grants, or both, greater than qualifying tuition expense. You reported college tuition expenses of $5,463.00 for [my child's name]. We allowed college tuition expenses of $0.00.
I wasn't expecting New York State to be ahead of the IRS on this matter, but no problem. The State is going to get every piece of documentation I received, I wrote and that supports my very correct position on this and I'll continue waiting patiently for the IRS to eventually "knock on the door."
Syracuse mother and adult son with Covid-19 die minutes apart at Crouse Hospital
https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus/2021/12/syracuse-mother-and-adult-son-with-covid-19-die-minutes-apart-at-crouse-hospital.htmlSyracuse, N.Y. — A 64-year-old woman and her 30-year-old son - who both had Covid-19 - died a few minutes apart this week in Syracuse.
Jacqueline A. Alpeter and James C. Alpeter III, who both lived in Syracuse, died Tuesday while being treated at Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, according to their joint obituary.
“So saddened by the sudden passing of Jackie Alpeter and son Jimmy within minutes of each other,” James Roger Farley wrote on Facebook on Thursday. Farley is former pastor of Family Worship Center in Clay. “Pastored the Alpeter family for over 50 years. Covid is demonic.”
A classmate of James Alpeter, husband of Jacqueline and father of James III, commented Tuesday on Facebook that they both had died of Covid.
“Our hearts are wrenching and our prayers (are) for you brother,” the man wrote.
Farley, contacted by Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard Friday, declined to comment on the two deaths. The Alpeter family declined Friday to discuss the deaths, other than to say they died after a brief illness.
Jacqueline posted in June a photo of herself with these words around it: “I’m not having the vaccine. My body, My choice.” In May she posted a photo of herself and the words “I trust my immune system not an experimental vaccine. My DNA, My Choice.”
Jacqueline worked at Syracuse University from 1983 to 2009, according to her obituary. She was listed as library technician in the university’s library, according to Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard archives.
James III was a graduate of East Syracuse Minoa High School in 2011, the obituary said.
"Covid is demonic."
No, Pastor Farley. It's just a virus (humans are made up of trillions of viruses*) that is highly likely to replicate itself and wreck havoc in your unvaccinated parishioners who contract it. Spread the word from a science book why don't ya? You might literally help save a life or two.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/viruses-can-help-us-as-well-as-harm-us/
*Scientists' rapidly expanding knowledge makes it clear that we are not made up primarily of “human” cells that are occasionally invaded by microbes; our body is really a superorganism of cohabitating cells, bacteria, fungi and most numerous of all: viruses.
Do face mask policies work? Countries with them had lower COVID death rates, study says
MCCLATCHY DC BUREAU
BY KATIE CAMERO
UPDATED DECEMBER 16, 2021 10:09 PM
Research on 44 countries in Asia and Europe including nearly one billion people shows nations that enacted face mask policies at the start of the pandemic had significantly lower COVID-19 deaths per million people than those that did not enforce any mask rules.
[skip]
There were more than 1.2 million confirmed COVID-19 deaths in countries without mask policies and nearly 914,000 in those with the policies between February and May 2020; average COVID-19 mortality rates per million people stood at 288 and 48, respectively.
Overall, increases in daily deaths were “significantly lower” in countries that enforced mask policies, suggesting face coverings did and do offer an additional layer of protection that “could prevent unnecessary COVID-19 deaths,” researchers said in a news release posted Dec. 15.
Full article at: https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/coronavirus/article256659402.html#storylink=cpy
Associated Press review of every potential 2020 voter fraud case in 6 contested states found
ATLANTA (AP) — An Associated Press review of every potential case of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by former President Donald Trump has found fewer than 475 — a number that would have made no difference in the 2020 presidential election.
Democrat Joe Biden won Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and their 79 Electoral College votes by a combined 311,257 votes out of 25.5 million ballots cast for president. The disputed ballots represent just 0.15% of his victory margin in those states.
The cases could not throw the outcome into question even if all the potentially fraudulent votes were for Biden, which they were not, and even if those ballots were actually counted, which in most cases they were not.
The review also showed no collusion intended to rig the voting. Virtually every case was based on an individual acting alone to cast additional ballots.
The findings build on a mountain of other evidence that the election wasn’t rigged, including verification of the results by Republican governors.
The rest of this long article at this link:
https://www.syracuse.com/us-news/2021/12/review-of-potential-voter-fraud-cases-finds-election-results-wouldnt-change-ap.html
Gee whiz! All of the individual voter fraud cases cited in the article are REPUBLICAN or tRUMP voters. I'm shocked. [/sarcasm]
How is it that the Republican law makers in these states are still going full on tilt to restrict voting (in their favor) due to this nearly non-existent fraud?
YouTube Video: Ethan Crumbley stumbling and falling in diner where he helped out occasionally in
2020. He would have been 14 at the time. Diner manager contacted mother and she claimed he hadn't eaten anything that day (it was 11:00 am). Manager didn't believe that line.
Accused school shooter Ethan Crumbley collapsed last year while working at a local diner in an bizarre, unexplained incident captured on video. Footage, obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com, shows the 15-year-old stumbling into the back room of the 5-1 Diner in Oxford before falling to the ground. The incident occurred at 11am on September 20, 2020 as the boy had been filling in for another employee at the restaurant, where he'd worked on seven or eight other occasions, according to the owner. Video shows Ethan enter the room wobbly on his feet. He sways erratically from side to side while flailing his arms, then collapses and slams head-first into a cabinet.
What does it look like to you?
Drunk
Medicated
Diabetic hypoglycemia
Other
Justin Moon was always the picture of perfect health, until a COVID diagnosis nearly ended his life.
&t=179sCOVID survivor encourages others to get vaccinated
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Nov 22, 2021
36 years old and he looks like his age reversed, 63. That's what 7 weeks on a ventilator will do. Don't think this could happen to all of you that are eligible, but refuse or are "hesitant" to be vaccinated? Think again (and get vaccinated)!
Edited to add link to article:
https://www.al.com/news/2021/10/former-alabama-football-player-spent-7-weeks-on-ventilator-with-covid-urges-vaccinations.html
Witches, Wife Beaters, & Whores: Common Law and Common Folk in Early America
by Elaine Forman Crane
Copyright 2011 by Cornell University
This book arrived from Amazon today in a plastic bubble envelope and I can't stop smelling it. It smells like fresh baked cinnamon buns with icing. I'm not kidding! Is Amazon adding scents to the packaging?
It's going to be a great read because of the subject matter, but it smells so good I'm going to sleep with it, too!
Edited to add one of the reviews from the back cover:
"With sensitivity and imagination, Elaine Forman Crane recaptures little-known episodes of witchcraft, murder, sexual assault, and domestic violence. She skillfully explores how deeply ingrained understandings of law and legal culture shaped the behavior of ordinary people in early America---whether victims, perpetrators, or neighbors. The book is a model of how legal sources can be mined to illuminate the workings of property, power, race, and gender in everyday life." ---Bruce H. Mann, Carl F. Schipper, Jr. Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, author of "Republic of Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of American Independence"
Only 1.1% of fully vaccinated in Onondaga County, NY have had breakthrough Covid-19.
The numbers:
293,452 county residents have been fully vaccinated
3,223 Covid breakthrough cases in fully vaccinated
14 fully vaccinated people have died
https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus/2021/09/onondaga-county-reveals-number-of-covid-breakthrough-cases.html
[Republican Onondaga County Executive] McMahon said county data on breakthrough cases shows the vaccine has been an “incredibly effective tool overall.”
“The vaccine is our best tool with this virus to stay out of the hospital and to stay out of the ICU,” he said.
He also reported 88 people are hospitalized with Covid, 25 of them in intensive care units. McMahon said 92% of the people being treated in ICUs for Covid are unvaccinated.
Of the county’s fully vaccinated residents, 65.8% received the Pfizer vaccine, 26.6% got the Moderna vaccine and 8.2% got the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Of the 3,223 county residents with breakthrough Covid cases, 66.7% received the Pfizer vaccine, 21.1% got the Moderna vaccine and 12.2% got Johnson & Johnson.
McMahon said the county analysis of vaccines received by residents who suffered breakthrough cases is very similar to national data.
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