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Davies: Tax code a playground for a few, maze for many

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:23:25 GMT

The tax code has become so convoluted and the ramifications of erring so onerous that tax preparers have become almost a priestly class of intercessors between the IRS and taxpayers. And yet, most of us are simply report numbers that the IRS already has. Filing our taxes is less about reporting our incomes than providing the IRS free secretarial support. This cesspool of confusion delivers a cornucopia of benefits to lawyers, tax accountants, favored industries, lobbyists and politicians.In part, the tax code is a make-work program. Congress digs legal holes, and we pay lawyers and accountants to fill them in again. Favored industries and lobbyists benefit more subtly. The more intricate the tax code, the easier it is for politicians to hand out favors without attracting attention. Industries pay lobbyists to encourage politicians to create special tax favors, and politicians receive political and financial support from the industries. This symbiotic relationship thrives in an envir...

OBF: Tuckered out? Celtics produce a lemon

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:23:25 GMT

It’s been a big week for shakeups.Tucker Carlson is out at Fox.Don Lemon is out at CNN.And Punxsutawney Phil is out as the official mascot of Groundhog Day.He’s been replaced by Lucky, the Celtics leprechaun.The Celtics are caught in an endless loop of late-game collapses, flat starts, and a persistent inability to close out foes with a vengeance.We’ve covered this before. There is a glaring lack of “grit and balls” in this version of the Celtics. We want to play fair, so we’ll hold off on the Larry Bird analogies.But the Big Three 2.0 only left town a decade ago.Those Celtics won Banner 17 with a 39-point rout in Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals.Thirty-nine points.And they did it against the defending Western Conference champions led by the late Kobe Bryant.One must wonder if given the same opportunity in another time-space continuum, these Celtics would have stopped at 15 and subsequently asked Kobe to sign their jerseys.These are not the 2008 Celtics. Nor are they playing Kobe’s Lak...

Lucas: Dems’ stand on trans sports ban endangers women

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:23:25 GMT

It is a good thing Lori Trahan was never forced to compete against Lia Thomas.Otherwise, the U.S. Congresswoman from Lowell’s 3rd Congressional District might not have won that athletic scholarship to Georgetown University.Trahan was one of nine Massachusetts members of the House, all Democrats, who voted against Republican-sponsored legislation that would prevent biological men from competing in women’s sports.While no Democrats voted for it, the bill was passed last week on a 219 to 203 vote. President Joe Biden has promised to veto the bill in the unlikely event it is approved by the Democrat-controlled Senate.One wonders, though, if Trahan, would have gotten her free college ride had she competed for it against a biological man identifying as a woman, like Thomas.Perhaps she would have gotten her scholarship anyway. At a stately six feet tall, Trahan was a talented volleyball player at Lowell High School before attending Georgetown.But back then, and at Georgetown, Trahan compet...

‘Polite Society’ delights as action/comedy/Bollywood musical

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:23:25 GMT

MOVIE REVIEW“Polite Society”Rated PG-13. At the At the AMC Boston Common, Coolidge Corner and suburban theaters.Grade: A- Written and directed by British television writer and director of Pakistani-Muslim descent Nida Mazoor, “Polite Society” might be described as a mash-up of an immigrant coming-of age comedy, a martial-arts action film, and a Bollywood musical. It’s East meets West in the best possible way. The film’s protagonist Ria Khan is played by the human tornado known as Priya Kansara (“Bridgerton”). Ria studies karate and dreams of becoming a stunt woman, needless to say an unlikely and unacceptable dream as far as her traditional parents Fatima (a delightful Shobu Kapoor) and Rafe Khan (a quite funny Jeff Mirza) are concerned. Ria’s parents own their own home in Shepherds Bush, London and send their daughter to a public school, where she has two dear friends Alba (Ella Bruccoleri) and Clara (Seraphina Beh). Ria’s archenemy at school is mean ri...

Wednesday’s high school roundup/scores: Mike Cobb’s gem lifts Waltham past Bedford

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:23:25 GMT

BASEBALLMike Cobb pitched a complete-game, surrendering two hits and striking out 10, in a 4-0 win for Waltham (5-2) over Dual County League opponent Bedford.In a Greater Boston League matchup, Brady Warren went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a homer and two RBI for Lynn Classical (8-1) in an 8-6 win over Revere. … Brandon McMahon fanned 13 and allowed just four hits in a complete game, stymying Everett for Malden (7-4) in a 5-0 win.Freshman Owen Miller registered three hits including a homer, driving in four in an 11-5 win for Bellingham over Tri-Valley League opponent Millis. … Brett Ebert cleared the bases with a double in the fourth inning, coupling with Austin Harper’s complete game on the mound to help Wilmington beat Lexington 5-3 in the Middlesex League.With a solo homer and three RBI, Robbie Welch led the Shawsheen offense (8-0) alongside Dyllon Pratt (two doubles, three RBI) in a 13-2 nonleague win over Saugus. … A complete-game, three-hitter with seven strikeou...

Dear Abby: House-sitting pal’s been snooping around

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:23:25 GMT

Dear Abby: A close friend takes care of my home when I travel several times a year. It involves picking up my mail, watering my indoor and outside plants and checking through the house for anything that might need attention in my absence. I return the favor for her each time she’s out of town. I don’t have anyone else near where I live who can do this for me.The problem is, when she’s here, she snoops through my things. I know because I keep things in a certain order (I’m neat and organized), and it’s very noticeable when my belongings have been rearranged. It bothers me because it’s an invasion of my privacy and just plain wrong. I would never think of doing this in her home. I have no desire to see her personal items.Over the years of our friendship, this person has become increasingly possessive and clingy to the point that it’s uncomfortable. I have overlooked it to avoid hurting her feelings. How do I handle this? Do I continue to lock ...

Search on for Australian overboard on cruise ship in Pacific

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:23:25 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday it was searching for a cruise ship passenger from Australia in waters south of Hawaii. The ship Quantum of the Seas notified the Coast Guard of a man overboard at 11:03 p.m. Tuesday. A C-130 air crew took off at 7 a.m. the next morning and arrived two hours later at the scene about 500 miles (800 kilometers) south of the Big Island town of Kailua-Kona. After six hours on site, the air crew returned to Air Station Barbers Point on Oahu to refuel. Coast Guard crews will resume searching Thursday morning. The Coast Guard said the cruise ship has been at sea for 15 days and is expected to dock in Honolulu on Friday. Information on the missing individual was not immediately available. Quantum of the Seas is operated by Royal Caribbean International. The company didn’t immediately respond to an email message. The Associated Press

Stock market today: Bank fears send Asia shares mostly lower

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:23:25 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly fell Thursday, echoing the drop on Wall Street, as worries about the U.S. banking sector and inflationary pressures weighed on investor sentiment. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 declined 0.2% in morning trading to 28,349.95. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.4% to 7,288.70. South Korea’s Kospi rose nearly 0.1% to 2,486.90. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.1% to 19,730.31, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.3% to 3,274.59. “Asian equities were lower on Thursday as turmoil in the banking sector looms large,” Anderson Alves of ActivTrades said in a markets commentary. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 dropped 0.4% to 4,055.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7%, to 33,301.87, while the Nasdaq composite led the market with a gain 0.5%, to 11,854.35.Wall Street was coming off its worst day in a month, hurt by concerns about the strength of U.S. banks. The spotlight has been harshest on First Republic Bank, which lost another ...

Montana lawmaker silenced but not silent, vows to fight on

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:23:25 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Moves to stifle the voice of the first transgender woman elected to Montana’s legislature over her stand on gender-affirming care for children may have silenced her in the chambers of the state House, but Rep. Zooey Zephyr said she’s confident they’ve only amplified her message to constituents at home and others watching across the nation.“There are many more eyes on Montana now,” Zephyr said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But you do the same thing you’ve always done. You stand up in defense of your community and you … stand for the principles that they elected you to stand for.”Zephyr was thrust into the national spotlight last week when she was prevented from speaking in the House after telling lawmakers backing a bill to ban gender-affirming medical care for minors that they would have blood on their hands. The Republican response to her comments, and her refusal to apologize for them as demanded, have transformed th...

Thai party hopes protesters will become pro-reform voters

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:23:25 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Three years ago, tens of thousands of mostly young people in Thailand took to the streets in heated demonstrations seeking democratic reforms. Now, with a general election coming in three weeks, leaders of the country’s progressive movement are hoping to channel the same radical spirit for change though the ballot box.One of those activists, Chonthicha Jangrew, is a candidate for the Move Forward Party. On the campaign trail on a recent morning at a market on the outskirts of Bangkok, she politely touted her party’s pro-reform agenda. It covers much of the same ground that riled Thailand’s traditional conservative establishment and triggered violent street confrontations between militant demonstrators and the authorities in a series of protests that gained traction in 2020.An activist since her days in college almost 10 years ago, Chonthicha became a high-profile figure in the youth-dominated movement by fearlessly confronting the police during the mass street protest...