Millions Owed City --
When I see this kind of story it makes me wonder if it is going on everywhere. In Atlanta, the AJC reported, "Atlanta's private water provider failed to collect $33 million over the past four years, pushing the city water system's overdue accounts to more than $57 million, according to a city audit noting a 20-month span between 1999 and 2001 when only 15 customers were shut off for not paying."
Spam Costs $8.9 Billion
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AP said "All those junk e-mail messages may promise instant wealth, but they can be quite painful to the bottom line.
"A study released Monday attempts to quantify the annual cost of spam: $8.9 billion for U.S. corporations, $2.5 billion for European businesses and another $500 million for U.S. and European service providers.
"Marten Nelson, an analyst at
Ferris Research, says that while most spam can be deleted in one second, occasionally someone is duped into clicking the message. It also takes time to track down legitimate messages mistakenly tossed by inaccurate spam filters. Figuring it takes 4.4 seconds on average to deal with a message, the messages add up to $4 billion in lost productivity for U.S. businesses each year."
This Year, Most Computer Filings to IRS Could be Free
Watch your mailbox, the IRS has a
little gift coming to you this week, your new IRS forms. But wait, you may not need to mail them in. The Scripps Howard News Service reported, "At least 78 million of the nation's 132 million taxpayers will be able to file their taxes free online this year, Internal Revenue Service officials said.
"A consortium of private tax preparers will offer free computerized filing to 60 percent of taxpayers. Until now, private firms typically charged a $12.50 fee for online filing atop other tax preparation fees, but the industry decided to offer the free option when the IRS backed off of a proposal to provide free e-filing itself.
"A record 47 million taxpayers booted up, logged on and filed electronically last tax season, but that total isn't enough to suit Congress or President Bush. By law, Congress has decreed that 80 percent of all taxpayers file electronically by 2007, but only 35 percent did so by the April 15, 2002 deadline for 2001 taxes.
"Acting IRS Commissioner Bob Wenzel praised the industry move for 'making history' but acknowledged taxpayers won't know if they qualify for free online filing until mid-January, when details will be posted on the IRS Web site."
Ban all Toy Guns?
Here is a story that I think people would care about and certainly would generate a lot of conversation. Is it time to ban all toy guns? Would it do any good? Aren't kids and toy guns inseparable? My son loves to play with the laser pistols and phasers in the toy store, but people look at me like I am a bad parent as I stand next to him in the store watching him go gah-gah over the high-tech shooting irons.
While, for people like me who grew up snapping toy cap guns at our brothers, it is a disquieting idea, it is a serious suggestion in the nation's largest city according to Newsday. "New York City Councilman Albert Vann, a Brooklyn Democrat and co-sponsor of the bill, said toy guns should be banned because criminals are increasingly using them to commit real crimes. 'Adults that are criminal-minded are using toy guns because they know that, if caught, the penalty is less severe,' Vann said."
The NY Post says, "City Council is moving forward with sweeping legislation aimed at banning the sale and possession of all toy guns -- including the water pistols kids shoot in the summer. Current city law prohibits the sale of realistic looking toy guns, but the proposed amendment would extend the ban to the brightly colored and transparent toys that remain legal. The bill was introduced last October, but the recent spate of cop shootings involving toy guns has given it new urgency, lawmakers said.
"'If you spray-paint a toy gun black, it clearly looks like a real gun,' David Weprin (D-Queens), a sponsor of the law, said yesterday. 'Therefore, we're taking it one step further and basically disallowing any sale of any toy gun in the city of New York.'
"Weprin brandished his 11-year-old daughter's toy -- which he spray-painted black -- next to a photo of the realistic toy gun that cost a Harlem 17-year-old his life last week. The suspected mugger, 17-year-old Allen Newsome, was shot dead after holding the toy to an officer's head, police said."
The Post says some large toy retailers have voluntarily pulled such guns from their shelves.
Study Says Gun Program Didn’t Work
The Washington Post says that a popular Richmond, Va., program imposing automatic five-year sentences on felons caught carrying guns, which has been copied by other cities, states and the Bush administration, is
not responsible for the dramatic decrease in the city's gun-related homicides in the late 1990s, according to a new study.
"The more than 30 percent drop in killings often attributed to
Project Exile, a six-year-old program that imposes automatic five-year sentences on felons caught carrying guns, probably would have occurred anyway as crime fell nationwide, according to an analysis by two scholars to be published in
a book this month by the Brookings Institution."
Military Websites (Part of a series of Al’s Morning Meeting lists to help you cover the military buildup/Iraq story)
Here is a website for all of the military branches to post news about Operation Enduring Freedom. The sites each contain some nice links to different kinds of aircraft and equipment being used in the missions. They also contain useful background. They are not, as you might expect, always the fastest to file information about conflicts, injuries or movement.
Military Websites for Iraq Operation Northern Watch
How many National Guard and Reservists have been called up from my state? Here is a listing current as of about a week ago. http://www.dod.gov/news/Dec2002/d20021231ngr.pdf
Contacting Somebody in the Military? Different branches do it differently, here is a listing.
How to Help U.S. Enlisted Abroad I found this list on a Dept of Defense site. I especially like the idea of sending calling cards to people in the Armed Forces to help them make calls home.
The Site said: "Below are Web sites for several organizations that are sponsoring programs for members of the Armed Forces overseas. While it would be inappropriate for the Department to endorse any specifically, servicemembers do value and appreciate such expressions of support:
Please do not flood the military mail system with letters, cards, and gifts. Due to security concerns and transportation constraints, the Department cannot accept items to be mailed to "Any Servicemember." Some people have tried to avoid this prohibition by sending large numbers of packages to an individual servicemember's address, which however well intentioned, clogs the mail and causes unneccessary delays.
About Those Computer bugs
I got a nice note the other day about the end of the year story I posted saying that 2002 was the worst year yet for computer viruses. Here is the note, "I'm a contributing editor and columnist for PC World Magazine(www.pcworld.com), and have been covering computer viruses for over a dozen years. The Al's Morning Meeting tip about viruses may cause some consternation, especially the point of over 78,000 being protected against. True. But at any given time, only a couple hundred are actually in circulation, or 'in the wild,' which is the term used by the industry. The rest are detected, but never spread for a variety of reasons.
"The 'Wild List' is a crucial resource for anyone covering the area. Updated monthly, it's at http://www.wildlist.org/WildList/.
"Also, the independent 'Vmyths' site (http://www.vmyths.com) is a valuable resource about 'computer virus myths, hoaxes, urban legends, and hysteria.'
"I am, BTW, available for interviews or quotes on this subject. (I'm located in New Hampshire.) Stan Miastkowski, Contributing Editor/Columnist, PC World -- 603-924-3226; fax 603-924-3791; stan_miastkowski@pcworld.com."
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
