You’d think by now creating groups for sharing 3D models would be old hat for Thingiverse, MakerBot’s online community for 3D printing enthusiasts, but sadly, you’d be wrong. That all changes today: MakerBot announced that Thingiverse users will fina…
*** WARNING: Contains spoilers! Please do not read on unless you’ve seen the season finale of “American Horror Story: Freak Show,” titled “Curtain Call.” Or if you don’t mind spoilers, go right ahead! ***
The curtain finally went down on the insane eye candy that was “American Horror Story: Freak Show.”
Dandy meets his maker in the form of the freaks he so adored throughout the season, but not before he assassinates the majority of the one-off characters. You name it: Seal Boy, The Strongwoman, Meryl Streep Jr., our beloved Toulouse. All murdered unceremoniously by Dandy’s golden revolver. It felt a bit cheap watching him wander through the show grounds, picking them off one by one, and yet, at the same time, there was suspense that someone might be able to get away. I was rooting for the torso woman to escape somehow, but alas, the only one who survives is Desiree. So all the characters we grew to know and love are offed in about two minutes. Such cruelty.
Jimmy and his wooden claws return to the campground to find the pile of freak bodies in the main tent (yes, another “Nooooooo!!” from Peters. That must be some kind of record). He and Desiree, along with Bette and Dot, band together to take down Dandy in the only way that feels right: torture. His constant lust for attention does him in, and this time the freaks get to watch him suffer instead of the other way around. Letting the serial killer drown in Houdini’s tank is appropriate, but some might say that’s not enough, considering all he’s done. I fall into the latter category; surely Dandy deserved more than that five-minute sendoff. Oh well, at least he ended up in a jar like the other freak specimens. The ultimate freak, the worst of them all.
But if we’re going to be real, this fourth season was all about Jessica Lange’s Elsa, who at the beginning of “Freak Show” had the classic redemption-story plotline: woman brutally wounded, rebounds with the help of mysterious stranger Massimo (Danny Huston), finds a home with a group of people who need a leader, then lives out her days providing a life for said people … but it doesn’t turn out that way. Elsa’s need for fame, like Dandy except minus the outright insanity, drives her away from her one true desire — love. And since Massimo has no soul/no capacity to love, plus a recent cancer diagnosis, she can’t find it with him. Hollywood rejects her just as her beloved freaks did. So, what else does an ex-freak do? Sacrifice yourself to a two-faced Wes Bentley, of course!
Elsa’s ending, though poetic on some level, also felt cheap. In many ways, Elsa is responsible for the deaths of several of her “children.” In some cases, she’s directly responsible (i.e. – she murdered Ethel). If I learned anything tonight, it’s that if you face that spirit ready to take you to Hades, and you tell him to “take you now,” he’ll sympathize with you and send you to a wonderful version of Hell where everyone treats you like gold, you can once again perform your David Bowie song as many times as you want (I never want to hear “Heroes” or “Life On Mars” again), and none of the people you harmed/killed/tortured/belittled/treated like garbage seems to mind that you’re there, getting off scot-free. Why does Elsa deserve to be vindicated? I kept hoping for a crazy surprise twist, but nothing came.
A microcosm of the season, the “Freak Show” finale is disjointed and all over the place, scrambling to find a cohesive, sensical ending. While all of the storylines were closed off (except for Stanley, where did he end up? And Chester. I guess he’s rotting in jail for life), at this endpoint the story has been cut up and re-sewn so many times it’s missing its main thread. There is nothing connecting the premiere with the finale except for Elsa. We had a focus at the start with Twisty terrorizing the town, but once he was killed the direction of the season was lost. Even Dandy, who made for a terrific Twisty replacement, was all but gone from the show for several episodes in a row.
With Elsa as the connection, “Freak Show” had no choice but to focus on her at the end. Sure, we see that Desiree and Malcolm-Jamal Warner hook up (aside: what, exactly, was the point of his character?), and Bette & Dot and Jimmy are pregnant (called it last week!), but that’s all that happens outside the Elsa sphere. This is Jessica Lange’s last “AHS” season, so maybe Murphy et. al. were trying to give her a proper send-off in the spotlight.
In a way, it would have worked better to say farewell to Lange’s excellent work on this show by killing her off in a disgusting, horrible, memorable way. Instead we’ll remember her last moments on the show with her eyes caked in blue eyeshadow, singing to a crowd of people in the afterlife.
I’m not sure if I’d ever buy a ticket for a repeat performance of this particular show. Now a spinoff, featuring Seal Boy and Meryl Streep Jr.? That I’m interested in.
Freak Of The Week: Dandy. Even though you knew he was going to die tonight, part of you still kind of wanted him to live. Finn Wittrock has been a pleasure this season, and I’d be surprised if we didn’t see more of him.
Random Thoughts:
“American Horror Story: Freak Show” airs on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. EST on FX and FX Canada.
Episode 12 Recap
Episode 11 Recap
Episode 10 Recap
Episode 9 Recap
Episode 7 Recap
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Episode 5 Recap
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Episode 3 Recap
Episode 2 Recap
Premiere Recap
Federal authorities are expected to arrest Sheldon Silver, the powerful speaker of the New York State Assembly, on corruption charges on Thursday, people with knowledge of the matter said, in a case that is likely to throw Albany into disarray.
Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Compania de Tobacos v.
Collector
The Republicans deserve credit for persistence, if not creativity. First it was the Affordable Health Care Act that they have voted to repeal no fewer than 54 times since taking control of the House in 2011. Now it is, once again, the Internal Revenue Service they have in their sights.
Attacks on the IRS over the years have been less frequent but far more effective. In 2004 the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 became the law. One of the purposes of the Act was to transfer to the private sector jobs that had theretofore been done by the public sector i.e. the government. The Republican reasoning behind this move was that whatever the public sector can do, the private sector can do better, if given the chance. Once the act was in place the Republicans has a chance to test it out in real life situations. Accordingly, beginning in 2006 and, following Congressional instructions, the IRS farmed out delinquent tax collecting to three private companies, two of which were especially well qualified to receive the contracts since they had contributed significant amounts to the coffers of the politicians who had a hand in hiring them.
According to a report in the Washington Post, the goal of the program was to collect $1.4 billion from deadbeats who owed the IRS $25,000 or less. If the private debt collectors met the target they would be entitled to keep $330 million. Even though the private sector is better at an assigned task than the public sector, the debt collectors missed their goals. Instead of collecting $1.4 billion, the assigned amount, they collected only $49 million thus missing the goal by $900,551,000. Commenting on the program in a statement on the floor of the Senate, Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland reminded his colleagues that Nina Olson had earlier informed his colleagues that if the IRS had spent the $7.65 million it cost to implement the private debt collection on an automated collection system, it would have generated generate $153 million. His Republican colleague in the House, Jim Ramstead, was not daunted by the failure of the program. He said: “the real choice is whether we use private collection agencies or let these tax debts go uncollected. I hope we don’t take an enormous step backward in our efforts to close the tax gap by eliminating a program that’s working.” How a program that missed its goal by almost $1 billion is considered working is better explained by a Congressional Republican than by me. In 2008 Democrats took control of both Houses of Congress and in 2009 tax collection was returned to the IRS. That was shortly before Congress began cutting the IRS funding.
In fiscal year 2010 the IRS received $12.15 billion in funding, $4.5 million less than the $12.6 billion it had requested. The reduced amount was insisted on by Republicans even though the Treasury Secretary and the IRS commission had pointed out to Congress that increased funding for the IRS pays for itself. According to the Treasury Secretary at the time: “Every dollar invested in IRS yields nearly five dollars in increased revenue from non-compliant taxpayers.” The Republican were unpersuaded then and remain so now. In the 2015 budget agreed to by the House and Senate in December 2014, the IRS will get $10.9 billion, a decrease of 10% since 2010. The 2015 budget for the IRS is about the same as what it was in 1998 when 30 million fewer returns were being filed by taxpayers. Nina E. Olson, leader of the Taxpayer Advocate Service anticipates that in 2015 the IRS will only be able to answer 43 percent of the 110 million calls it expects to receive. Those lucky enough to get through will be on hold for 30 minutes. If the wait is any longer than that the taxpayer will be treated to what is described as a “courtesy disconnect.” The caller is removed from the cue waiting to speak to a representative and disconnected. The caller can, of course, call back in order to be placed back in the cue. In 2013, 61 percent of calls received were answered and the wait time was 18 minutes.
According to the Taxpayer Advocate Service’s 2013 Annual Report to Congress, the IRS has almost 400 walk-in sites. Ten years ago it answered more than 1.4 million tax-law questions at those locations. Because of the most recent cuts some of those sites may close and those remaining open will only answer “basic” questions during tax season and none after April 15th even if a taxpayer has not yet filed. The agency will no longer prepare returns for low income, elderly and disabled taxpayers. Its workforce was reduced from 95,000 full-time employees in FY 2010 to 87,000 in FY 2013 as a result of earlier cuts and it is anticipated that in 2015 another 3000 positions will be eliminated.
The successful attack on the IRS and the prospect of more attacks on other valuable institutions by newly emboldened Republicans lead one to hope that more votes are scheduled on repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act. Those are the sorts of harmless actions that satisfy the need of Republicans to let everyone know how much they dislike the president without inflicting harm on the country. Christopher Brauchli can be emailed at brauchli.56@post.harvard.edu. For political commentary see his web page at http://humanraceandothersports.com
By Jonathan Roisman, NextAdvisor.com
2015 is here! With a new year upon us, it’s the perfect time to make a few resolutions to help improve your financial life. One of the best ways to do that is to boost your credit scores because this will give you access to a number of useful benefits. From lower interest rates to more credit card offers with generous rewards, your credit scores play a major factor in determining where you stand financially. But how can you improve your credit scores? With a little work and patience, you can see your credit scores rise dramatically in 2015. Here’s how to do it:
1. Pay your bills on time (and in full)
A common New Year’s resolution is to save and be more responsible with money. A perfect way to do that is to pay your bills on time. Paying bills late will hurt your credit scores, which in turn can raise your interest rates, forcing you to pay more money. Try to pay off your debt in full because incurring interest charges is not a good thing. If you can’t pay it all off at once, at least pay the monthly minimum on time.
If you need more time to pay off your credit card bills without incurring interest charges, consider applying for a credit card that offers a 0% intro APR, then transfer the balance from the old card to the new. You will save money by completing a transfer with this card because you’ll be able to pay no interest on the balance you owe for an extended period of time. One of the best options for balance transfers is Chase Slate because it comes with a 0% intro APR on balance transfers and purchases for 15 months, as well as a $0 balance transfer fee if you complete the transfer within the first 60 days of account opening. You don’t even need perfect credit to get approved. People with not-so-perfect credit are more likely to be approved for Chase Slate because it requires “good” credit, unlike many other 0% APR cards, which require “excellent” credit. It also comes with the useful and more secure EMV technology, better known as “chip and PIN.” Most balance transfer cards do charge a small fee, however, usually 3 to 5 percent of the total balance transferred with a $5 minimum, depending on the card. Read up on how a balance transfer works here.
2. Monitor your credit reports
You can’t improve your credit scores if you don’t know what they are. Fortunately, it’s easy to find out. By law, you’re allowed a free copy of your credit reports annually. Make sure to check your credit report doesn’t contain any errors, as many commonly do. Your credit reports and scores usually vary between the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) because different types of credit are often reported to different bureaus. For example, a personal loan you recently opened may be reported to one bureau but not the other two. That’s why it’s important to know what’s on all three of your reports, because one score might be considerably worse than the other two.
The only downside to your annual free copy of your credit report is that you won’t receive your credit scores from the three major credit bureaus. You have the option to pay a fee for them, however checking them one time may not be enough to catch potential fraud. That’s why you should consider signing up for a credit monitoring service. Most of them will give you your scores instantly upon signup and regularly monitor the activity on all three reports and scores on an ongoing basis as well as alert you of any changes or additions. This will help you catch any anomalies that can be caused by fraud or error.
Top-rated credit report monitoring services such as Identity Guard and LifeLock provide you with all three of your credit reports and scores immediately upon signup. To top it off, both Identity Guard and LifeLock offer 30-day free trials so you can test out the service before you make a commitment.
3. Decrease your credit utilization ratio
Your credit utilization ratio determines 30 percent of your FICO credit scores, second behind your payment history (35 percent), so maintaining a healthy ratio is extremely important. Luckily, calculating your credit utilization ratio is easy. You simply divide the total amount of credit that you’ve used (or owe) by your total amount of available credit to get the percentage (or your credit utilization). For example, if you’ve used $1,500 in credit and have $5,000 worth of total available credit, then you’ll have a credit utilization of 30 percent. It’s ideal to have credit utilization 30 percent or below otherwise it may have a negative impact on your credit scores.
Don’t panic if your credit utilization ratio is high, because you can fix it. It can take time, however. One way to is to pay off as much of the balance on your credit card as possible. By doing this, you will increase the amount of credit you have available, which lowers your utilization ratio. Try and pay more than the minimum balance when at all possible because the faster you pay off the balance, the faster your credit utilization ratio will lower.
Another way to decrease your credit utilization is to apply for new credit because revolving credit, such as a credit card, has a direct impact on your credit utilization ratio. On the other hand, installment loans, such as an auto loan, don’t impact your credit utilization. When you apply for new credit, your credit score can take a small hit because a hard inquiry is placed on your credit history, so it’s important to only apply for a card that requires the type of credit you have. For example, don’t apply for a card that requires “excellent” credit when you have “good” credit because you’re going to get denied. Instead, apply for a card that requires “good” credit so you’ll get approved and won’t have to apply for multiple cards within a short time frame. Checking your credit scores will help you determine what your credit ranking is.
Getting a new credit card may not be the answer for you if you’re paying down a lot of debt (more than can be transferred) or if you have trouble paying back your credit card. In either case, a personal loan may be the best option. Let this blog post help you determine which is the top option for you.
Make 2015 a banner year
It’s not always easy to follow through on New Year’s resolutions, but it’s certainly possible. Knowing what your credit report says and what your scores are can give you power to change for the better. Remember to check your credit reports from all three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) often. Visit our credit report monitoring reviews to see which service is best for helping you keep track of your reports and scores in 2015.
This blog post originally appeared on NextAdvisor.com.
Dear Carrie,
I’m turning 60 next year and keep hearing about different age-related requirements and milestones. For example: FRA? RMD? And when can I start withdrawing money from my 401(k) without a penalty? I want to make sure I don’t miss something important. Can you help?
— A Reader
Dear Reader,
Although a lot of us may try to forget our age as the years go by, when it comes to reaping the financial rewards of getting older, you’re wise to keep certain age-related milestones top of mind. But as might be expected for the rules and regulations surrounding retirement withdrawals and government benefits, it can get complicated. Therefore, it’s important to understand what you need to do — and when — to help assure you don’t make a costly mistake and that you get all the economic benefits you’re entitled to.
Here’s a checklist of basic ages to keep in mind and the significance of each.
Being mindful of age-related dates and deadlines is only part of the picture. You also need to sit down and review your own financial picture — retirement accounts, Social Security benefits, other sources of income — and create a retirement budget and withdrawal strategy. It’s not only about missing something; it’s about taking every opportunity to secure your financial future.
Looking for answers to your retirement questions? Check out Carrie’s new book, “The Charles Schwab Guide to Finances After Fifty: Answers to Your Most Important Money Questions.”
This article originally appeared on Schwab.com. You can e-mail Carrie at askcarrie@schwab.com, or click here for additional Ask Carrie columns. This column is no substitute for an individualized recommendation, tax, legal or personalized investment advice. Where specific advice is necessary or appropriate, consult with a qualified tax advisor, CPA, financial planner or investment manager.
COPYRIGHT 2015 CHARLES SCHWAB & CO., INC. MEMBER SIPC. (0115-0450)
The Smithsonian Institute’s Cooper Hewitt design museum got a recent overhaul, and at its core is something app developers are likely pretty familiar with — an application program interface. We know what you’re thinking, “What does a museum need an …
Picture the scene: you’re watching the kids play in the local park when, suddenly, your smartphone goes nuts. The sensor that you’re wearing on your belt loop, along with several other sensors in the area, have noticed an increase of gamma radiation….
It seems that there is a second round of rumors going around concerning the possible acquisition of BlackBerry by the good people over at Samsung, at least according to a spanking new report from The Financial Post. It seems that Samsung might be pursuing BlackBerry actively in terms of taking over or purchasing a significant stake in BlackBerry Limited. Going through documents that have been put together for Samsung by New York-based independent investment bank Evercore Partners, one has a better understanding on the details as well as possible structure for a potential BlackBerry purchase.
If one were to recall, the first time word went out that Samsung wanted to pick up BlackBerry saw an approach in the region of $7.5 billion, citing executives from the two companies who did discuss about a possible transaction. Those reports were shot down quickly by BlackBerry, and Samsung’s very own J.K. Shin also stated, “We want to work with BlackBerry and develop this partnership, not acquire the company.” Not only that, BlackBerry CEO John Chen did mention to the federal Industry Minister James Moore that “it’s a rumour and there’s no truth to it.”
It seems that Samsung still has a very strong interest in BlackBerry – for the right price, of course, so we will just have to sit tight and wait for something to move – if ever, that is.
Rumors Of Samsung Acquiring BlackBerry Refuse To Die , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
So, you think you are one of the best speed readers out there? Since humans love nothing better than a good challenge of their capabilities as well as abilities, here is a little something for you to ponder over – what if there was a book which would allow you to actually beat a particular set time when it comes to reading? Speed reading, that is. Author James Patterson intends to give out 1,000 copies of its self-destructing digital novel, known as Private Vegas.
Assuming you happen to be one of the lucky 1,000, you would have exactly 24 hours on the clock to beat. Should you finish the entire book within that particular period of time, then good for you. However, if you fail to do so, then the book will self-destruct – so to speak. It will not end up in a ball of flames and scorch that lovely suit of yours, no sir, but the text in the book itself will vanish for good.
Not only that, Patterson too, will walk on the adventurous side by selling an actual self-destructing copy – which will retail for a massive $294,038, where it will come with a dedicated bomb squad, of course, to handle any kind of emergencies. Definitely a story experience that is worth checking out, and I do wonder if the clock is about to expire, would speed flipping through the pages defuse the bomb?
Self-Destructing Book Is A Novel(ty) , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
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