In a major break in a massive tax-evasion investigation, UBS AG and the governments of Switzerland and the U.S. have reached a settlement that could force UBS to turn over identities of thousands of account holders, a Justice Department attorney told a U.S. District Court judge Friday morning. Click here for the WSJ story. WSJ Law Blog July 31, 2009

FTC: Who is Responsible for a Deceased Relative's Debts?
News release: "If your relative leaves unpaid debts when he or she dies, do you have to pay? According to the Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, surviving relatives usually have no legal obligation to pay the debts of a family member who has died. Generally, that person’s estate is responsible for paying his or her debts. But if there isn’t enough in the estate to cover the debts, they typically go unpaid. After a relative dies, debt collectors may contact family members and ask them to pay their loved ones’ debts. The rights of surviving relatives are covered by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which the FTC enforces."
The FTC has developed a new consumer alert about this issue titled Paying the Debts of a Deceased Relative: Who Is Responsible?

Tax Foundation - Facts & Figures Handbook: How Does Your State Compare?
Facts & Figures Handbook: How Does Your State Compare? (2009 mid-year update)
Mark Robyn: "How do taxes in your state compare nationally? This convenient pocket-size booklet compares the 50 states on 37 different measures of taxing and spending, including individual and corporate income tax rates, business tax climates, excise taxes, tax burdens and state spending. The 2009 version of this booklet was originally published in February; this is a mid-year update reflecting recent rate changes in some states."

cacophony noun
harsh discordance of sound; dissonance
a discordant and meaningless mixture of sounds
music: frequent use of discords of a harshness and relationship difficult to understand
1650–60; < NL cacophonia < Gk kakophōnía. See CACO-, -PHONY
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cacophony

cacography noun
bad handwriting; poor penmanship
incorrect spelling
1570–80; CACO- + -GRAPHY
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cacography

calligraphy noun
fancy penmanship, esp. highly decorative handwriting, as with a great many flourishes
Fine Arts: line or a group of lines either derived from or resembling letter forms and characterized by qualities usually associated with cursive writing, esp. that produced with a brush or pen
1605–15; < Gk kalligraphía beautiful writing. See CALLI-, -GRAPHY
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/calligraphy

In 1875, Christopher Sholes with assistance from Amos Densmore rearranged the typewriter keyboard so that the commonest letters were not so close together and the type bars would come from opposite directions. Thus they would not clash together and jam the machine. The new arrangement was the "QWERTY" arrangement that typists use today. http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/qwerty.htm

Quotes
Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't.
There is no such thing as a wrong note as long as you're singing.
Pete Seeger (b. 1919) American folk musician, activist

Caribou and reindeer are slightly different according to:
http://www.uaf.edu/news/featured/04/reindeer/difference.html

Caribou and reindeer are the same according to: http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Artiodactyla/Rangifer_tarandus.html

Alphonse and Gaston (AL-fons uhn GAS-tuhn) noun
Two people who treat each other with excessive deference, often to their detriment
After the title characters in a cartoon strip by cartoonist Frederick Burr Opper (1857-1937). Alphonse and Gaston are extremely polite to each other, to the extent that their "After you, Alphonse", "You first, my dear Gaston!" routine often gets them into trouble, such as when they can't evade a trolley which mows them down while each insists on letting the other go first. A.Word.A.Day