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The Insider
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Volume 1, Issue 19
April 16, 2004 |
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So what’s the deal with income
taxes anyway? Yesterday, April 15th, was tax day. So what is the deal with income taxes, anyway? The nation had few taxes in its early history. From 1791 to 1802, the United States government was supported by internal taxes on such things as distilled spirits, tobacco, and slaves. In 1817, however, Congress did away with all internal taxes, relying on tariffs, or import taxes, to provide funds for the government. In order to support the Civil War, Congress passed the nation's first income tax law in 1862. People who earned from $600 to $10,000 paid tax at the rate of 3%. Those who made more than $10,000 paid taxes at a higher rate. Income taxes pretty much ended with the war. Income tax had a short-lived revival in 1894 and 1895. However, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1896 that the income tax was unconstitutional. They said it was like taking someone’s private property without compensation. The 16th Amendment to the Constitution made the income tax permanent in
1913. During World War II in 1943, the
withholding tax on wages began. |
FUN FACTS ABOUT TAXES Ø Last year, only one in five calls to the IRS customer hot line got through. Ø Half of all errors on 1040 forms are the result of IRS employees inputting incorrect numbers. Ø The IRS sends out 8 million pages of forms and instructions each year, enough to circle the earth 28 times. Ø The top 10 percent of income earners paid 58.2 percent of income taxes last year. Ø
The bottom 75 percent of households paid 20.5
percent of total income taxes last year. Ø
The bottom half of all income earners
pay only 4.8 percent of all income taxes. |
ALC Insider
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Daniel
Shell – Founding father of Worthington By
Michael Dennison Worthington
was founded by three people in the year 1871.
These people were as follows: Peter Thompson, Stephen Miller, and
Daniel Shell. Of the three
Daniel Shell was one of the most involved in the organization of this
beautiful town. Shell was originally
born in No man has
ever played a more important part in the political activities of the Nobles
County area, and the city of Worthington. Shell was a
farmer and farmed a piece of land three miles east and one mile south of the
place now called Worthington. After
that he went into business in town, owning and operating a motel and
stable. He also ran a stagecoach from
Worthington to Sioux Falls, SD. This
of course was before the railroad was built. When the location of the County seat was
up for grabs, the decision was to have it in Worthington. Shell then took a train from Worthington to
St. Paul. (Continued à) |
He got hold of a stockholder and persuaded him to donate
a block to place the courthouse on. He
also promoted an area that we now call Chautauqua Park. Shell also influenced the establishment of free mail delivery out of Worthington. As a member of the board of commerce he also served on the school board and state senate and was a charter member of the fire department.
Nobles County Court House |
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ALC
Insider April
16, 2004
Page 3 |
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The
rules of self-defense By Adrian Gonzalez Self-defense has its rules and
limits. Minnesota State Law says it permits people to protect themselves to a
certain degree. The use of force towards another person is illegal unless used by a police officer. A person can use force or deadly force against someone else if they think it necessary to protect themselves. An example of self-defense would be if someone swings a bat at you and you hit the attacker back – that would be self-defense. A person does not have to wait to get hit, or be injured by the person who is ready to attack. If someone clenches their fist and is ready to fight, you can start your self-defense. When using self-defense you have to use a reasonable amount of force equal to the amount of the threat. Some actions you should follow when you have to use self-defense. Ø Keep any weapon you have out of sight. Ø Check and see if the attacker has injuries without touching or moving him. Ø Check the area and do not touch or mess around with any of the evidence. Ø
When police arrive at the scene get their
attention without appearing threatening to them. So remember that
self-defense is a privilege, not a right.
Stay away from areas where you might get involved with harm, call the
police when necessary, and don’t use more force than is needed |
By Liz DeLeon One of the problems that I believe that is very disturbing at the ALC, to me, is that in order to go to the bathroom you have to open it with a key obtained from the office. I understand that the staff doesn’t want more than one person in the bathrooms, but they shouldn’t lock them up as if we were at a high security campus. What about an emergency when you really have to go and you have troubles unlocking the door, and you have an accident? Who would be to blame – the student for not holding it longer, or the staff for the ridicules rules? Many people think that ALC students are students with heavy attitude problems, but not all are like that. I think maybe that’s why they made that dumb bathroom rule. They think that a group of people is going to start fights in the bathroom, or even go in there and smoke, or even just go and stay there and skip their 3rd hour class. Who knows what was going through their heads when they made the rule? I don’t think that having to go to the office to get a key to unlock the bathroom when you need to use it necessary. |
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The Insider April 16, 2003 Page 4 |
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Starsky, and Hutch: A Crime /Gangster/Comedy/ Action / Adventure flick Starring: Ben
Stiller, Owen Wilson, and Snoop Dogg. By Juan Herndandez Set in the metropolis called "Bay City" this is the tale of two police detective partners. Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson (Wilson) and Dave Starsky (Stiller) who always seem to get the toughest cases from their boss, Captain Dobey. The pair relies on an all-knowing street informer “Huggy Bear” (Dogg) and race to the scene of the crimes in their souped-up 1974 Ford Torino hot rod. The film tells the story of their first big case which involves a former college campus drug dealer who wants became a white collar criminal. This a really funny movie to watch and a good adventure where a lots of funny things happen and where these guys get themselves into a lot of troubles. Rating: PG- 13.
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ALC Insider April 16,
2004
Page 5 |
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To Choose or
Not To Choose Your Baby’s Sex
By: Virginia Cerda Do you want a girl or a boy? That is the number one questions that parents get asked. But most of them just answer by saying it doesn’t matter. But if you really want to choose your baby’s sex, science could help you. Parents can now are find out the sex of their babies before they are born. But some couples are going a step further using a procedure they hope will choose their baby’s sex even before conception. One couple recently used this new sex-selection called gametrics. Gametrics works like this: : Ø First the male sperm is separated from the female sperm then artificially inseminated during ovulation. Ø The doctor places a speculum in the patient and the specimen is deposited.
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Ø Finally, the sperm that are deposited must swim up into the fallopian tubes and inseminate an egg. The couple had to go trough a lot of hoops to get were they wanted to be. The couple already had two boys, and now instead of getting one baby they got two. And the biggest surprise was that even with gametrics the twins were boys! For obvious reasons, some hospitals say that gametrics is a gamble. If you are wondering about the cost, a gametrics procedure usually runs about $1,000, but there is no guarantee the procedure will produce the desired result. |
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The Insider April 16,
2004
Page 6 |
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America’s
Dumbest Criminals By Liz DeLeon Ever wonder how dumb some people can be? Well here’s the scoop on some of America’s
Dumbest Criminals. A guy walks in the bank and holds up a
note to the teller saying “This is a robbery, put your money in the bag. I’ll
be back in 30 minutes”. Or like the felon who answers honestly. He goes to the hospital for possible broken leg. On the question form it asks, “How did you get hurt?” So he answers, I got hurt while escaping from jail. Or like the two Hispanic who tried to
break into a car near the Police Station. Of course they were seen by the
officers, they tried to run from the cops but ended up in the parking lot of
the police station right in back of the building. They were eventually
arrested. Some people just aren’t cut out to be
criminals. If you don’t have a plan well thought out, you are probably going
to get caught, especially if you are under controlled substances. |
The Vines By Patrick Cummings The band “The Vines” lead singer hadsrecently been compared to the legendary Curt Cobain from Nirvana. I personally have been listening to some of The Vines music and I do not believe he really even compares much to Curt. He is very talented and has some of the traits that Cobain has, but does not produce the same energy. The Vines are currently releasing a new album and we will see what kind of publicity it receives.
Hopefully the new album will bring the band success and show the energy that some people are talking about. I believe if the Vines use the energy they have, they may possibly be the next metal legend. The Vines have great potential and a lot to work with. The Vines are
coming up fast though. They started as
a band out of Sydney recording onto old cassettes. Now they are one of the most popular bands
being talked about in the U.S. today.
They say that the songwriter Craig Nicholas is a rare songwriter. |
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