Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with This

How to form an alliance with the IRS?

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:37:00 -0800

How do I bust my employer for TAX FRAUD? Yes, my employer is TOTALLY defrauding the government. He runs a retail business (about $15M Gross/year) in California. I have ALL sorts of documentation about not reporting large sums of cash (3-4M during christmas season), all sorts of documentation about where that money is physically kept, and a written discussion about how they get around good accounting.

Yeah, I couldn't believe it either about how open they were about all fraudulent activity. The employers also are HORRIBLE to all the employees...they scare them into subservience. So i want to bust them!

How do I do this? If you're going to refer me to this, yeah, I've been there and done that. I filled out the form, included ALL sorts of relevant info (tax forms, contradicting bank statements, emails, etc, etc.). I did that over a YEAR ago, and still haven't heard back. I also decided to do it with my real name/address/contact info. It wasn't even anonymous, because I knew how ludicrous it would sound to have ALL this concrete info about HUGE fraud. It really is crazy.

I understand that the IRS doesn't really have the time or manpower to investigate "my neighbor claims to use gel ink pens for work. But I see him using it for personal tasks". But this is HUGE. They have been defrauding the IRS for AT LEAST $1M EVERY year for 5+ years.

Anybody have any real advice. If you would prefer not to post on here, please feel free to message me.

Stay awesome, MeFites.

Who's Singing This Gershwin Tune?

dbarefoot — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 07:05:59 -0800

Who sings the version of "Someone to Watch Over Me" on the latest episode of This American Life? It is incorrectly credited to, uh, Sting, on the TAL website. Between the second and third ‘acts’ of the episode, there’s a nice version of “Someone to Watch Over Me”. On the TAL website, it’s credited to Sting. He has a version of the song but it’s not this one (nor is it nearly as good).

I browsed through iTunes and eMusic, but couldn’t find anything promising. I tried a few Google searches, but unfortunately there’s another episode of TAL named “Someone to Watch Over Me”. In fact, there seems to be some weirdness, because that episode (#269) includes the same ’second act’ as the current episode.

If anybody happens to listen to it (the song is at about 45:30), let me know if you recognize the singer.

Can you explain “this?”

ijoshua — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 13:58:24 -0800

How do you explain the this object? I was working with a student in Java the other day, and although Java isn’t my lingua franca, I did use it in college about 10 years ago, and I’m comfortable with OOP. But I struggled trying to explain this.

How would you go about explaining the semantics of this for an intro-level student, w/r/t Java specifically?

I love that segment, because it reminds me of myself...

mittenedsex — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 01:19:20 -0800

This American Life Filter: There's an episode where a guy finds out he's a lousy friend I remember hearing an episode of This American Life where a guy finds out through his friends that they really think he's an asshole. I'm not sure if "asshole" was the exact term they used, but he goes on to ask all his other friends and slowly pieces together all the little incidents where he really WAS an asshole and why they might've ignored him in the past. I've searched google + TAL website but can't seem to find it. Help?

Name this TSO song

parilous — Wed, 02 May 2007 09:31:44 -0800

[NameThisSong Filter] Help a friend of mine identify this (badly recorded) live song, performed by Trans-Siberian Orchestra at a Philadelphia concert in 1996. Here is the download link. [mp3, 5.25 MB] She wrote: "Here's the deal - every TSO show is structured pretty much the same way - they perform their whole first CD for the first 1/2 of the show, then they do stuff from the rest of their catalog. After one of the songs, they do a cover of someone else. This year they did Clapton (Layla). Anyway, after the cover, they do this song. It's not one of theirs, and they don't identify it in any way. I've seen some people say it's a jam session/improv piece, but since I've seen them play it at least six times (maybe eight - I see them at least twice a year) and it's virtually the same every time, I'm kind of skeptical that's it. Someone suggested it might be ELP; I definitely hear a kind of 70's thing happening, so that seems credible."

I've already run the file past my music geek friends, to no avail (guesses ranged from elements of Santana, Metallica, David Gilmour, and The Cult], so I appreciate any guesses you have. Thanks!

Help me locate a "This American Life" episode.

zorro astor — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 15:59:45 -0800

Help me find a "This American Life" episode. The narrator found a diary at a yard sale of a woman who lived in Chicago (I believe) and he becomes obsessed about finding out what happened to her. Assorted details: I believe the woman worked at a television factory, she was manic-depressive, and she lived with her sister. The episode appeared around 4 years ago that I can recall.

If anybody can help me, thanks.

what was this horror movie?

santogold — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 22:20:44 -0800

Please help me remember this movie. I think it was made in the 60's or 70's. The things I remember: It had women that had normal features but later looked really ugly either do to an operation or drugs. There may have been a "mad doctor" involved. It may have been set near "the water". Thanks in advance for helping me remember. I want to watch this movie again no matter how bad it was!

Who are these guys?

Corbienest — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 15:07:37 -0800

I saw this hilarious music video posted somewhere on myspace that I don't know the name of. Can any of you music buffs possibly identify the band and song for me? It was these two gay guys singing in falsetto. It was in spanish. And they used the word fiesta a lot. I really don't have anything else to go on, but I really need to know who it was. Please help!

Searching for a short story from This American Life

By The Grace of God — Tue, 14 Jun 2005 07:39:47 -0800

I'm searching for a short story from This American Life. It was read at the end of the show and is probably 2 or 3 years old. The story was about a little boy with a superpower of finding lost objects who, at the end of the story, focused the power on himself and discovered that he, too, had strayed from his rightful place.

Starlee Kine

andrewzipp — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 13:56:19 -0800

Is there a picture of Starlee Kine from This American Life on NPR anywhere? For some reason, the faces behind the voices are always a little bit disappointing, but I just can't stand not knowing any longer.

There's only a tiny B&W shot from far behind on the thisamericanlife.org website. I guess I could email them, but I feel kind of weird about it.