Sam Spade's San Francisco

I need your help.

Earlier this year, I promised to speak at a high school's graduation somewhere in the United States. To be considered, we asked schools to tell us how they achieve three important criteria:

• Set a positive example for other high schools around the Country;
• Engage students in learning and foster personal responsibility and academic excellence; and
• Prepare students to graduate college to help meet my 2020 goal that America have the highest proportion of college graduates of any nation in the world.

We've narrowed down more than 1,000 entries to six finalists that each have a three-minute video and short essay you can review and rate. From now until Thursday, anyone can participate. Once the voting is over, I'll choose the winner from the top three.

Check out the six finalists:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/commencement

We're calling this process the Race to the Top Commencement Challenge, and it's just the beginning. I'm planning to speak at a high school graduation every year I'm in office to keep the focus on our commitment to our Nation's schools, and to motivate teachers, principals, and students to keep improving. And of course lifting up American education will take parents getting more involved in their child's education.

This is also an opportunity to discover and highlight schools like these six finalists: excellent examples of the kinds of effective approaches to teaching and learning that I know are happening around the country.

Let me know what you think of the choices:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/commencement

Thank you,
President Barack Obama

P.S. The deadline is Thursday at midnight EDT, so take a moment to give your input on these six deserving finalists:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/commencement

.

The performance featurs Donald Currie, Tom Orr, and Mike Vega

SexRev is the centerpiece of The Rhino’s residency at Mama Calizo’s Voice Factory, an incubator for exciting new queer performance.

SexRev utilizes a non-linear approach to the presentation of Sarria’s life, drawing on camp, sketch comedy, opera parody and queer confrontation to tell the story of Sarria’s enormous impact on gay entertainment and LGBT politics.

Included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act approved by Congress last month and signed into law by President Obama, the credit is one of the first health care reform provisions to go into effect. The credit, which takes effect this year, is designed to encourage small employers to offer health insurance coverage for the first time or maintain coverage they already have.

About the photo: President Obama completes signing the health care act into law as San Francisco Member of Congress and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi applauds.

“We want to make sure small employers across the nation realize that –– effective this tax year –– they may be eligible for a valuable new tax credit. Our postcard mailing –– which is targeted at small employers –– is intended to get the attention of small employers and encourage them to find out more," IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said. “We urge every small employer to take advantage of this credit if they qualify.”

In general, the credit is available to small employers that pay at least half the cost of single coverage for their employees in 2010. The credit is specifically targeted to help small businesses and tax-exempt organizations that primarily employ low- and moderate-income workers.

For tax years 2010 to 2013, the maximum credit is 35 percent of premiums paid by eligible small business employers and 25 percent of premiums paid by eligible employers that are tax-exempt organizations. The maximum credit goes to smaller employers –– those with 10 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees –– paying annual average wages of $25,000 or less. Because the eligibility rules are based in part on the number of FTEs, not the number of employees, businesses that use part-time help may qualify even if they employ more than 25 individuals. The credit is completely phased out for employers that have 25 FTEs or more or that pay average wages of $50,000 per year or more.

Eligible small businesses can claim the credit as part of the general business credit starting with the 2010 income tax return they file in 2011. For tax-exempt organizations, the IRS will provide further information on how to claim the credit.

Resources and more info:

View the postcard.

View Information on state-by-state distribution of the postcard.

More information about the credit, including a step-by-step guide and answers to frequently asked questions, is available on the IRS Web site, IRS.gov.

Remember - the IRS web site is a .gov address, not a .com or .org address.

Oh ..and by the way .. even though the Republican "just say no" Party fought as hard as they could to defeat this law, the Democratic "yes we can" Party and President Obama prevailed. This means that even Republican small business owners can take advantage of this new tax credit, even though they think it is horrible. I wonder how it feels to experience such colossal hypocrisy.

.

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

SUBJECT: Respecting the Rights of Hospital Patients to Receive Visitors and to Designate Surrogate Decision Makers for Medical Emergencies

There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital. In these hours of need and moments of pain and anxiety, all of us would hope to have a hand to hold, a shoulder on which to lean -- a loved one to be there for us, as we would be there for them.

Yet every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides -- whether in a sudden medical emergency or a prolonged hospital stay. Often, a widow or widower with no children is denied the support and comfort of a good friend. Members of religious orders are sometimes unable to choose someone other than an immediate family member to visit them and make medical decisions on their behalf. Also uniquely affected are gay and lesbian Americans who are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives -- unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated.

For all of these Americans, the failure to have their wishes respected concerning who may visit them or make medical decisions on their behalf has real onsequences. It means that doctors and nurses do not always have the best information about patients' medications and medical histories and that friends and certain family members are unable to serve as intermediaries to help communicate patients' needs. It means that a stressful and at times terrifying experience for patients is senselessly compounded by indignity and unfairness. And it means that all too often, people are made to suffer or even to pass away alone, denied the comfort of companionship in their final moments while a loved one is left worrying and pacing down the hall.

Many States have taken steps to try to put an end to these problems. North Carolina recently amended its Patients' Bill of Rights to give each patient "the right to designate visitors who shall receive the same visitation privileges as the patient's immediate family members, regardless of whether the visitors are legally related to the patient" -- a right that applies in every hospital in the State. Delaware, Nebraska, and Minnesota have adopted similar laws.

My Administration can expand on these important steps to ensure that patients can receive compassionate care and equal treatment during their hospital stays. By this memorandum, I request that you take the following steps:

1. Initiate appropriate rulemaking, pursuant to your authority under 42 U.S.C. 1395x and other relevant provisions of law, to ensure that hospitals that participate in Medicare or Medicaid respect the rights of patients to designate visitors. It should be made clear that designated visitors, including individuals designated by legally valid advance directives (such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies), should enjoy visitation privileges that are no more restrictive than those that immediate family members enjoy. You should also provide that participating hospitals may not deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national
origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The rulemaking should take into account the need for hospitals to restrict visitation in medically appropriate circumstances as well as the clinical decisions that medical professionals make about a patient's care or treatment.

2. Ensure that all hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid are in full compliance with regulations, codified at 42 CFR 482.13 and 42 CFR 489.102(a), promulgated to guarantee that all patients' advance directives, such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies, are respected, and that patients' representatives otherwise have the right to make informed decisions regarding patients' care. Additionally, I request that you issue new guidelines, pursuant to your authority under 42 U.S.C. 1395cc and other relevant provisions of law, and provide technical assistance on how hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid can best comply with the regulations and take any additional appropriate measures to fully enforce the regulations.

3. Provide additional recommendations to me, within 180 days of the date of this memorandum, on actions the Department of Health and Human Services can take to address hospital visitation, medical decisionmaking, or other health care issues that affect LGBT patients and their families.

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

You are hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

Link to original White House document

.

All of us at Students for a Free Tibet send our heartfelt condolences to the families who have lost loved ones in the earthquake. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Kyegundo and the surrounding area.

How you can help:

1) Donate to organizations working in the region to help support emergency relief efforts:

Tibetan Village Project: http://www.tibetanvillageproject.org/

Tibetan Relief Fund: http://www.tibetrelieffund.co.uk/

Machik: http://www.machik.org/index.ph

Tibet Foundation: http://www.tibet-foundation.org/news/urgent_emergency_appeal_-_kyekudo_yushu_earthquake/

Tibet Fund: http://www.tibetfund.org

Thrangu Rinpoche Trust: http://www.thranguemergency.org/

2) Help spread the word that this awful tragedy occurred in Tibet not in Western China as the media is reporting:

• Change your Facebook status and tweet: Quake in Tibet. Please help. Donate here: http://tibetanvillageproject.org/ (Please RT)
  
  
• Read and share a moving blog post about the earthquake with reactions from Tibetans in Tibet on High Peaks Pure Earth
  
  
• the statement issued by the five leading Tibetans exile organizations in Dharamsala (including SFT India).
  

• Write to the editor of your local newspaper and ask that he/she acknowledge that the earthquake struck in occupied (or the disputed region of) Tibet.
  

From High Peaks Pure Earth: Chinese media refers to the affected area as the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu (玉树) in Qinghai province, Western media has been calling it Western or South Western China inhabited by “ethnic Tibetans” or part of the “Tibetan plateau”.

Although spelled Kyegundo, when spoken it sounds more like Jyekundo. This Google map shows the position of Kyegundo in relation both to Lhasa and also to the provincial capitals of Qinghai and Gansu, Xining and Lanzhou, to the north east. Here is the link to the map on the website of Tibetan and Himalayan Library, an excellent resource site.

Fears over potential dam burst:

The BBC has reported that a massive dam at the headwaters of three rivers in the area has been damaged and that people have fled for higher ground in fear that the dam might burst. A crack in the dam wall has prompted Chinese officials to drain the reservoir. The Chinese government has plans to build several more dams in this earthquake prone area. View a map posted on the Tibetan Plateau blog: http://tibetanplateau.blogspot.com/2010/02/dams-on-upper-reaches-of-yangtze-mekong.html

Also, according to a NPR report 85% of the buildings in the town have collapsed and the Red Cross is reporting that 70% of schools have been destroyed. The area is home to Tibetan nomads and farmers who traditionally live on the grasslands of the plateau. A Newsweek blog post from April 14th documents the Chinese government’s massive push to re-settle Tibetan nomads into concrete housing projects like the kind we see lining the streets of Kyegundo.

The media is reporting that relief efforts by the Chinese army are underway, but we’re also hearing that many people in the surrounding areas are without food and water. A Tibetan was able to send word out that: people as far away as Denma (5-6 hrs drive from jyeku) are sleeping outside right now [out of fear of after shocks]. People don’t have food and troops are apparently only going in by road, so it could take 2-3 days for relief to get here.

Keep checking back for updates and ways that you can take action to help Tibetans in Kyegundo.

Read more:

His Holiness the Dalai Lama sends his condolences to the earthquake victims: http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/520-his-holiness-offers-his-condolences-to-the-victims-of-the-earthquake-in-kyigudo

Statement by U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi: http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/pressreleases?id=1629

Free Tibet (UK based Tibet Support Group): http://www.freetibet.org/newsmedia/earthquake-eastern-tibet

International Campaign for Tibet (Washington, D.C. based Tibet Support Group): http://savetibet.org/

World News Blog (The sensitivity behind the latest Chinese earthquake): http://blogs.channel4.com/snowblog/2010/04/14/the-sensitivity-behind-the-latest-chinese-earthquake/

BBC (China earthquake kills hundreds in Qinghai): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8619593.stm

NPR (Earthquake In China Kills 400; Thousands Injured): http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125930694

New York Times (Strong Quake Kills Hundreds in Western China): http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/world/asia/15quake.html

The Festival will screen more than 100 films from around the world, honor film icons Robert Duvall and Roger Ebert, open with Jean-Pierre Jenet’s dazzling caper “Micmacs”, feature the original score and live performance of Stephin Merritt to the silent epic “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, and celebrate a comedic legend on Closing Night with the documentary “Joan Rivers - A Piece of Work” - with Rivers in attendance.

The Festival is deeply etched into the San Francisco community fabric. Society advisory board members include former SF Mayor Willie Brown, Peter Coyote, Robert Redford, Ed Harris, Dustin Hoffman, Danny Glover and a host of impressive names.

For tickets and information, visit sffs.org or call the box office at: .

Taxpayers who need extra time to file their federal returns this year can file the Form 4868 request for an automatic extension through IRS Free File. The extension gives you an additional six months, until Oct. 15, to file the tax return.

Taxpayers can file the request for extension with traditional Free File or Free File Fillable Forms. Using Free File to prepare and electronically submit Form 4868 is free to everyone.

In addition, taxpayers can use paid preparers or purchased software to electronically file Form 4868. A paper version is also available for download from the IRS Web site, IRS.gov. However, you will only receive an acknowledgement that the IRS received your request, if you e-file or Free File the request.

Free File and Free File Fillable Forms will be available through Oct. 15.

An Extension to File, Not to Pay

An extension of time to file is not an extension of time to pay. You need to estimate your tax liability and pay any balance due when you request the extension. Several payment options are available, including electronic funds withdrawal, credit card and check.

If you are unable to pay the total balance due, you should pay as much as possible and then contact the IRS about an installment plan. Even if you cannot pay the balance due, it is important to either file a return or request an extension to avoid the failure-to-file penalty.

The IRS expects to receive approximately 10 million extension requests in 2010, which is about the same as last year. Some taxpayers automatically receive extensions to file. For example, military personnel serving in a combat zone have 180 days after leaving the combat zone to file their returns. Victims of recent natural disasters in certain federally declared disaster areas also have extra time.

.

Reminders from the IRS for Last-Minute Tax Filers

Videos:
Last-Minute Tips: |
For this and other videos:

WASHINGTON –– With the April 15 tax filing deadline right around the corner, the Internal Revenue Service offers taxpayers who have not yet filed a few last-minute tips.

Don’t Miss the Deadline

If you have a balance due and don’t file a tax return by April 15, you face interest on the unpaid taxes as well as a failure-to-file penalty. Interest and penalties are added to your balance due. If you can’t file by the deadline, request an extension of time to file (see below).

If you file on time or request an extension but don’t pay all or some of the balance due by the deadline, you will incur interest on the unpaid amount and a failure-to-pay penalty. If you can’t pay the full amount, you should pay as much as possible by the deadline to minimize interest and penalties.

Get Recovery Tax Breaks

Last year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created a full slate of tax breaks, which can be claimed on tax returns right now. These include:

• The Homebuyer Credit
• Making Work Pay Credit
• American Opportunity Credit
• Home Energy Credit
• New Car Tax and Fee Deduction

You can get information on these and other Recovery credits at IRS.gov/recovery.

File Electronically

Most tax returns are now filed electronically – either from home using purchased tax software, by a tax professional or through Free File.

There are several reasons the IRS encourages taxpayers to file electronically. Here are two big ones:

• E-file is accurate: Most available tax preparation programs check for errors and missing information, reducing the chances of delayed refunds or follow-up correspondence from the IRS.
• E-file is fast: With most tax software, you can file a state tax return at the same time you file your federal return. Once a return is accepted for processing, the IRS electronically acknowledges receipt of the return. And refunds take only about half the time of a paper return. If you choose direct deposit, you will get your refund in even less time.

Try Free File

Free electronic filing is available to everyone.

Traditional Free File is software with step-by-step help available to anyone whose 2009 adjusted gross income was $57,000 or less. The only way to access Free File is through the IRS Web site, IRS.gov. As the name implies, there is no charge for this service.

For those whose incomes exceed $57,000, there is Free File Fillable Forms. Free File Fillable Forms, also available through IRS.gov, allows a taxpayer to fill out and file tax forms online. You enter the necessary information, sign electronically, print the return for recordkeeping and then e-file the return right to the IRS. Since there is no step-by-step help, Free File Fillable Forms may be best if you are comfortable with the tax law and know which forms to choose.

Choose Direct Deposit for Refunds

Whether you file electronically or on paper, your refund can be automatically deposited into the bank or financial account of your choosing. Direct deposit is faster than a paper check. If you e-file and use direct deposit, you will receive your refund even faster. Direct deposit is also more secure than a paper check since a direct deposit goes directly into your account and cannot be lost in the mail or stolen.

Split Refund: Refunds can be direct-deposited into as many as three different accounts. Most e-file and tax preparation software allow you to “split” your refund this way. Paper return filers need to file Form 8888, Direct Deposit of Refund to More Than One Account, to split a refund among two or three accounts.

Buy Savings Bonds: This year, for the first time, you can buy Series I U.S. Savings Bonds with your refund. Issued by the Treasury Department, a Series I bond is a low-risk investment that grows in value for up to 30 years.

Check for Errors

Tax software finds common errors on electronically prepared returns. However, if you file on paper, you can avoid delays in processing and follow-up questions from the IRS by:

• Double-checking all figures
• Ensuring Social Security numbers are correct
• Signing forms where required
• Attaching required schedules and forms
• Mailing returns or request extensions by the April 15 filing deadline

Pay Electronically

Electronic payment options are safe and secure methods for paying taxes or user fees. You can pay online, by phone using a credit or debit card, or through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System.

You may also pay by check made out to the “United States Treasury” using Form 1040-V, Payment Voucher, which must be included along with your tax return. If you have already filed but still need to pay all or some of your taxes, mail the check to the IRS with Form 1040-V.

Request an Extension of Time to File

If you can't meet the April 15 filing deadline, get an automatic six-month extension of time to file by filing Form 4868, Automatic Extension of Time to File. The form needs to be submitted by April 15.

There are several way you can request an extension, including Free File or Free File Fillable Forms, through your tax professional, with tax software you installed on your computer or on paper.

An extension pushes your filing deadline back to Oct. 15. However, an extension of time to file is not an extension of time to pay. If you owe taxes, you need to pay at the time you file the extension or face a non-payment penalty.

Apply for an Installment Agreement

If you can’t pay your entire balance due, an installment agreement will allow you to pay any remaining balance in monthly installments. If you owe $25,000 or less, you may apply for a payment plan using the Online Payment Agreement application or just attach Form 9465, Installment Agreement Request, to the front of your return. You’ll need to list the amount of your proposed monthly payment and the date you wish to make your payment each month. The IRS charges $105 for setting up the agreement, or $52 if the payments are deducted directly from your bank account.

You will be required to pay interest plus a late payment penalty on the unpaid taxes for each month or part of a month after the due date that the tax is not paid.

Help Is Available

For more information about filing and paying your taxes, visit 1040 Central on IRS.gov. Important information is also available in Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax. Forms and publications are available for download from IRS.gov or can be ordered by calling toll free 800-TAX-FORM ().

.

The Mission Blue Voyage: a project of the TED Prize