Rihanna’s Dress Illegal?

CBS sent out a “wardrobe advisory” for all talent on camera for Sunday night’s Grammy Awards. The stuffy shirt, conservative network wants to make sure everybody is covered up. The notice has a warning that says all buttocks and female breasts must be covered including bare sides and under the curvature of the breast. It also says to avoid see-through clothing and there’s a warning about the “puffy bare skin exposure in the genital region” … meaning no camel toe!

Big fat “Mama June” from the “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” television program has dropped 102 pounds since the show started shooting in 2011. Mama said she did it with no diet, no gym and no workouts, “I’m just doing stuff like movin’ around. I haven’t done no surgeries, no diet pills and never went to the gym. But they got me running around and going different places”.

Oregon resident Vincent Burroughs really got screwed by the IRS … no, I mean he really got screwed by the IRS. Burroughs received a telephone call from IRS agent Dora Abrahamson who told him he was going to be audited. She started sending him suggestive texts and sexy photos. She showed up at his home and told him he could have no penalty or a 40 percent penalty depending if she gets what she wants. Burroughs said he was pressured into having sex with the agent and is suing the government and Abrahamson. I wish my IRS agent offered me that deal!

Last but not least … Over 3,000 airline flights have all ready been canceled in the Northeast USA. Weather forcasters are saying 21″ of show will fall in Boston, MA … 26″ in Portand, ME and 23″ in Providence,RI. Winds will gust up to 70 mph and the storm is being compared to the record-breaking 1978 blizzard that crippled the NE for weeks. In Boston schools and all government offices are closed and the Mayor is telling people to stay home and keep off the streets.

Birthday wishes go out to actor Nick Nolte who turns 72 today, actor Joe Pesci who celebrates the big 70 on Saturday and country singer Travis Tritt who turns 50 on Saturday.

Subway’s 12″ Sub?

If you eat at Subway you’ve been getting ripped off for years! The world’s largest fast-food chain (with 38,000 locations) is facing criticism after a man posted a photo on the company’s Facebook page of a “foot-long” sub measuring only eleven inches! More than 100,000 people commented or liked the posting. The company says the exact size of a footlong sub can change due to the fact that bread is baked individually at each location.

Yesterday, Cigarsdirect.com delivered “El Gigante” … the world’s largest cigar to an unidentified buyer. The stogie weighs 1,600 pounds, is 18-feet-long, 3-feet-wide and sold for $185,000. “The cigar could actually be smoked,” said Juan Panesso a Clearwater, Florida cigar dealer. “El Gigante contains enough Nicaraguan tobacco to roll 25,000 normal cigars. It was delivered in a specially made 900-pound crate.

The Inspector General for tax administration said that the IRS detected more than 173,000 fraudulent tax returns from prison inmates last year. Many of these criminals used stolen identities and false information to get tax refunds. The IRS says they stopped inmates from collecting over $2.5-billion in funds.

Taylor Swift just added Diet Coke to her list of endorsements. She currently has deals with Cover Girl, Sony Electronics and Keds Footwear. She has also filmed television commercials for Target and Macys, In addition, Ms. Swift also has a print ad campaign for Disney Parks. Wow !!!

You can hear the weeping and see the tears … Intel (the world’s largest computer chip maker) only showed a $2.47-billion profit in the 4th quarter of 2012. That figure is down 27 percent from the previous year. Damn … just how much money does Intel make????

Last but not least … Yesterday air pollution levels in Bejing, China were so bad that people were told to stay home, don’t go to work and don’t drive. The visibility was so bad that all airports were closed as well. Wow, I thought LA had the monopoly on crappy air!

Have a great Tuesday!!!

For all the glory these athletes received and earned, plus the bonuses they were rewarded with by the US Olympic Committee, the IRS will have their hands out to the tune over over one million dollars in taxes owed by these athletes! I truly hope that the politicians led by (R) Marco Rubio of Florida will do something to rescind this ridiculous tax that is put on these athletes, the government’s way of saying thank for a job well done!
Granted there will be some who will cash in big time with commercial endorsements, products, TV shows, etc. but that number will be less than 2 dozen out of the hundreds of athletes who give their entire life to their sport. Not every Olympic medalist will cash in big with the multi million dollar deals. They will go back to school, go back to their normal lives, go back to training for upcoming competitions and never taste the smell of millions in endorsements. Some will also forego endorsements to remain amateurs so the can continue to compete in other events. So the idea that all of these athletes are going to cash in big is a fallacy. It is actually a small number who do. Another reason why these athletes should be able to keep every dime they get from the USOC for winning a medal.

There are the families of these athletes who scrimp and save year after year to make sure their kids get the best coaching, training and advice. The impression that these families are all well to do and can afford the expense of training, the expense of going to London for a couple of weeks is another fallacy. Yes, there are some that are financially well off, but the majority of families are hard working every day people who struggle to make ends meet. But somehow, through loans, selling off things, taking extra jobs, etc. find a way to get to the Olympics to cheer on their kids and their country.

In the meantime, amid all the glory of the Olympics, the medals, the pride and the public relations it does for the USA, our government and the IRS, have their hand out for taxes from these athletes and it is just not right. I would hope by the time the Winter Olympics come around in 2014 that a bill will have been passed and signed into law that no longer requires these athletes to fork over thousands of dollars in taxes because they won a medal. If such a bill isn’t passed, you can bet the IRS can’t wait for 2014 so they can take another big chunk of money away from our athletes and not care one bit about what they accomplished!

Stop handing out billions to other countries and stop taking money away from these gifted athletes, they have earned every single dime!

Art Koch, National features & DVD Editor, NightMoves Magazine and AAN