Oprah Crashes Her Own Web Site

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Add Oprah to the list of celebrities who don’t read the Business Technology Blog. If she did, the TV star would have known to check with her tech department before posting an online video that crashed her Web site. On Monday night, Oprah and Eckhart Tolle, author of “A New Earth,” hit cyberspace in a heavily promoted event intended to help fans transcend their egos and reach new states of spiritual happiness. Cyberspace hit back: More than 500,000 people tried to watch the Webcast, overwhelming the equipment that runs Oprah’s site. Viewers’ screens froze; some saw a message explaining the site was experiencing technical difficulties. Oprah’s production company put out a press release calling the Webcast “one of the largest single online events in the history of the Internet” and apologizing for not being prepared.

Assisted living costs for Alzheimer's patient is tax deductible

clipped from www.usatoday.com Q: My mother just went into an assisted living facility due to Alzheimer's. It costs over $4500 per month. Are any portion of these expenses tax deductible? Answer from AICPA member Kenneth J. Strauss: Sorry about your mother but the good news is that the entire $4,500 is fully tax deductible as a medical expense. The rules can get pretty complicated but it is clear that Alzheimer's disease is a severe cognitive impairment which is the threshold for determining if the taxpayer is entitled to a full medical deduction. Like all medical deductions the total amount of medical deductions is an itemized deduction. The medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of her adjusted gross income are deductible. Depending on how high her income is will determine the full tax benefit. This might be a year to take some extra money from her retirement account. If your mother does not have the resources and you or another family member is paying then you should see if your mom can qualify as a dependent.

Do Parts of Ohio and Texas Not Count?

Follow the link to the complete text of this interesting article.

clipped from blogs.wsj.com In Texas and Ohio, where the latest polls suggest close races between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton today, 334 pledged delegates are at stake. But by the reckoning of some political analysts, voters selecting 142 of these delegates are rendered irrelevant by the Democrats’ primary rules, because they’re likely to be split down the middle among the two candidates. That’s because these delegates will come from the 19 districts in Texas and the 12 in Ohio that have an even number of delegates up for grabs. Slate’s Christopher Beam wrote to California Democrats before their primary that “there’s a good chance your district won’t count.” Adds Michael Barone, in U.S. News & World Report, “Nobody seems to have thought through the consequences of having allocated so many districts an even number of delegates

Smart Clips: We Are The Ones Song by will.i.am

Smart Clips: We Are The Ones Song by will.i.am

The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for People with Alzheimer Disease and Memory Loss in Later Life