Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with federal

Need help figuring how much to put aside...

InterestedInKnowing — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:57:14 -0800

I need to know a rough estimate of how much I should take out in taxes. Theres no withholding with my checks because the temp agency is whack like that. But I need to know how much to take out for tax season? I live in NY, but don't live in the city. So far I earned with this agency... 7466.55. The end of the year it will be $9000 earned. Can anyone help?

The War on Drugs claims another one.

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:10:11 -0800

Dear AskMe, Should I be concerned about writing to someone in prison that knows about previous illegal activities I've participated in? Three people involved: X (my friend), Y (in prison), and I (me).

In the past, all of us went to the same college. (Y dropped out second semester senior year, X and I graduated in 2006.) The last time we heard from Y (before this incident) was last year at our homecoming. Y and I went out at around 4am to smoke pot since X didn't want to wake up to go. That was the last time any of us had spoken to Y until about a month ago.

X found out about Y's imprisonment via Y's mother posting a message on Facebook asking people who knew Y to write letters. X told me about this and said that they already written Y and said that I should write him as well. I pretty much forgot about it due to some personal stuff getting in the way.

In college, Y sold X pot on several occasions. (I was there, but never actually exchanged or recieved drugs or money. I have smoked in the presense of Y (and X) on several occasions.)

As far as the understanding of the situation Y is currently in (which I've only been able to find out through X's recounting of the letters Y has written X), Y is in federal prison awaiting trial for some sort of conspiracy and drug trafficking charges. Apparently Y has not had a trial yet, but has said that it will likely be a 10 year sentence. The trial is apparently going to happen in about 6 months or so.

Before this, I would've said that Y was nowhere dumb enough to get involved in anything obvious enough to draw this kind of attention to themselves. X, however, would be, and has actually been fired from one job already on being ratted out by another coworker for smoking on the job and continues to smoke on a regular basis. X was also a lot closer to Y than I ever was.

On the other hand, I only smoke pot when I hang out with X (which is every few months or so for a few days). Other than that, I haven't smoked pot on a daily basis since I graduated. I also happen to have my life together (house/mortgage, car, decently-paying job, etc) more than X and Y. Therefore, I'm a bit concerned about letting Y know that I'm still around and doing pretty well in the world.

So, the question is, should I be concerned about writing to Y? Is there any way that Y can somehow implicate me their current situation? Also, what sorts of things should I tell Y about? I feel kind bad being all 'oh yeah, my life's going wonderfully' while they're in jail awaiting trial.

If anyone doesn't want to respond publicly, here's the throwaway email address: M8R-dp02fx@mailinator.com

J'en ai besoin d'améliorer mon français. Any suggestions?

Decimask — Sun, 10 May 2009 12:09:15 -0800

« J'en ai besoin d'améliorer mon français, » or: "I need to improve my French." I'm looking for advice from anyone who has worked on improving or regaining their n^th language. I'm closing out my graduate degree this summer, and it looks like my recent work placement may turn into a job (yay, work!). A degree of bilingualism is required (not sure of the levels, B/B/B definitely, possibly C/B/C).^[1] I went through French immersion from K-12, but I'm 28 and Grade 12 was a long time ago.

So I'd like some help from the hivemind. I'm going through some of the previous French AskMe questions right now, but they look to be "I'd like to learn" questions. Some of them do seem promising.

If you are/were in a similar situation, what worked for you?

Where I stand
I think can understand 90-95% of spoken French other than figures of speech--that was my experience living in Gatineau, mostly from carpooling with my boss's québecoise boss during the OC Transpo strike.^[2] Reading it is also not a problem. Writing it is a brutally slow process though, and I get the "brain freeze" initially when someone speaks French to me as I change gears. My vocabulary is full of holes I don't know about until I step in them.

I've got a Bescherelle and Schaum's French Grammar workbook, which has a 2-star review in rhyming couplets. There was a prof in my program who had a french discussion group going during the year, but he may not be teaching during the summer.

[1] The letters are written, spoken and comprehension--not sure of the order. Unilingual<A<B<C<Exempt.

[2] I've wondered a few times how often my brain is just recognizing that it's French & familiar, and not actually understanding the vocab.

Policy monitoring for families with kids with special needs

greta simone — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:22:49 -0800

In search of website, blogs, etc that keep up with federal and state (specifically NC) policies that affect families with children with developmental and physical disabilities? I'm interning for an agency that provides support to families with children with special needs (developmental/intellectual/physical/behavioral/etc disabilities), and I am looking for a way to keep the staff up-to-date on current policies affecting the population we serve. I'm hoping to simply find a few comprehensive sites and blogs to whose RSS feeds we can subscribe and review when necessary. This agency serves all of North Carolina, so NC-specific sites would also be helpful. Thanks in advance!

Help me become a Fed

Skwirl — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 07:19:28 -0800

How do I best utilize my Non-Competitive Eligibility from AmeriCorps to secure a job in the Federal government? After reading some of the other posts on AskMe about applying for Federal jobs, I'm pretty scared that my usajobs.gov resume isn't keywordy enough, or not descriptive enough, or too descriptive or whatnot to get past the first vetting. Is there a resume service that is extremely knowledgeable in editing Federal job applications? Exactly what kinds of questions and what kinds of cold contacts am I allowed to make as someone with the equivalent NCE of a current federal employee to leverage my current networking? For instance, do I have a little more leverage with the NCE status to send my resume and cover letter directly to the hiring manager and bypass all the keyword fiddling altogether?

My dream job would be just about anything with the Corporation for National and Community Service. My other goal right now is to move to the mid-Atlantic coast. My NCE expires in August and I'd also like to look into any Census 2010 jobs or other jobs that might at least get me an entry level or better job to land in with or without relocation help.

Tips on getting a federal gov't job

Foam Pants — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:54:38 -0800

There are a lot of federal jobs available in my area that pay better than my current gig in state gov. Problem is, sending a resume in just seems to sink into a black hole. Not only that but it seems like most decent fed jobs are only open to people already IN federal government. I have seen jobs come open that fit my skills but not even a rejection letter in response to my application. How in the holy heck do you get in the federal system... how do I even get my resume looked at? Is there a secret to getting an interview?

Someone should fiscally restrain them

whatgorilla — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:02:54 -0800

Have the recipients of the $2 trillion dollars been identified yet? I know Bloomberg was attempting to find out where the Fed sent the money, but I haven't heard anything since. Also, is there a legitimate reason why this information should be kept from the tax-payers who (at least partially) footed the bill?

Legality to mail US consumer vegetable seed packets to Kenya?

Quarter Pincher — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:36:32 -0800

Are there any export restrictions (or whatnot) regarding me (a US non-business entity) sending a bunch of packages of consumer vegetable-garden seeds to a foreign country (Kenya) as a gift? I'm sure there are some restrictions on receiving foreign seeds, but.. outgoing? A gentleman I met in Kenya last year (having been there myself) has requested a number of seed packets be sent to his rural/slum community. Would I be breaking some US export law (or Kenya import.. hmm) by sending them?

Where do I learn to pick an ear and keep it?

parmanparman — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:29:10 -0800

I need to learn state-level and/or federal-level lobbying. Where can I find classes, events, or seminars to study and observe this? I am in the Washington, DC-area, but I'm willing to travel 1,000 miles or less.

Shoud I bother with the new federal housing tax credit?

GuyZero — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:01:50 -0800

FinancialOpinionFilter: I qualify for the new Federal Housing Tax Credit! Yay! But since I have to pay it back it hardly seem useful. Plus there's extra hassle with taxes for the next 15 years. Should I bother claiming it?

GRAND JURY YO!

madmamasmith — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:37:53 -0800

Do all misdemeanor cases get to bypass the grand jury? Is there such a thing as a federal misdemeanor? I know FEDERAL capital offenses must go before a grand jury and each STATE handles this differently, ie NY both sides and a judge, no grand jury. But I am confused on this process...help, test tommorrow!!

[HR / background checks] What exactly is a "10-year background check" (for the US feds)?

coffeefilter — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:50:15 -0800

[HR / background checks] What exactly is a "10-year background check" (for the US feds)? I've already read through Metafilter's extensive "background check" archive. Sounds like half the world has a suspicious background they're worried about! Me too!

I thought I'd try to make my questions as specific as possible, so here they are. This is in reference to the federal "10-year background check." What do they check, how do they check it, and how do they interpret the results? Here goes:

Prior Residences -

(1) Suppose you lived in 10 different states in the last 10 years. Would the federal agency consider you "unstable" somehow?

(2) Suppose you lived in a third world country for a while, and their police force, such as it is, never responds to requests. Especially from those bossy Americans! So when a US agency does a criminal records search, they can't get any information at all, positive or negative. What happens then? Is your background check delayed indefinitely?

Prior Bad Employers -

(3) What if one of your past employers has gone out of business? What happens when the background checker is unable to verify your dates of employment? Do you fail your background check?

(4) What if your past employer is really, really disorganized, so when the background checker calls them, they say they don't remember you, and hang up? Does the background checker assume you were lying?

Unverifiable Gaps in Employment History-

(5) What if you spent several years not working, because you were being the house -wife/husband? And your SO is now your insane ex-SO. Are they actually going to call up your insane ex-SO?

(6) What if you took a few months off to explore the wilderness? Do you have to find some park ranger's telephone number so they can verify it? Or how about two moose and a bear? Or do they just figure you're a total slacker?

And finally -

(7) If something bad turns up, do they ever tell you, so you can resolve it? Like someone stole your identity, and now you're wanted for bank robbery in seven different states. Will they tell you? Or do they just quietly send you letter thanking you for your interest, but they had many qualified candidates ....

What protections does a state trademark provide that a federal trademark does not?

Mr_Crazyhorse — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:24:34 -0800

What protections does a state trademark provide that a federal trademark does not? I am currently applying for a federal trademark to provide protection to certain products that I intend to produce and distribute nationwide. I understand that IN ADDITION TO a federal trademark, I can obtain a state [CA] trademark.

Is it worth the time and money to obtain the state trademark in addition to the federal trademark I am currently applying for? Does the state trademark afford me any additional protections?

Is it worth my time and money to apply for a state trademark in the primary state that I will be doing business in? Since I will be doing business in several states, should I also obtain trademark protection in those states?

Thanks.

Federal Reserve bailout

purenitrous — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:29:46 -0800

Without sounding conspiratorial... I'm wondering how much arm twisting it took by political/economic elites to get the Fed to adopt its current Liquidity Plan. Will Carlyle Capital directly benefit from it? A couple of days ago I read this story about their recent notice of default on a margin call. So the story basically describes a situation where the equity firm was unable to meet several payment demands by its lenders. Of course the collateral in question is "residential mortgage backed securities" which I assume have been falling in value because of market forces in the mortgage backed securities market.

So a day later, I read about the Feds plan to solve the liquidity crisis. basically exchanging these same mortgage backed securities that are plummeting to zero for US Treasury bonds.

Then, considering the Carlyle Group and who its principals are (is Carlyle Capital a subsidiary of Carlyle Group? If so, it includes George Herbert Walker Bush and James Baker). Is this an action to protect them from possibly billions in losses?

Is the Fed's move really a plan to bail out well connected political elites?

Here's one of the reasons why I ask: If the value of my mortgage in the secondary market is falling... I would love to have the opportunity to buy it back at a lower price! (or refinance with someone else at its current market value)

Why should the Federal Reserve bail out investors in one particular market? There's definitely not much sympathy for the little guys who are losing their houses to foreclosure.

Does the public have access to information about who will be exchanging mortgage backed securities for Treasury Bonds?

ok, this does sound stupidly conspiratorial. sorry about that.
=)~

It's a Federal Rap, No, it's a State Rap

Xurando — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 16:01:51 -0800

Book Research Filter: How is jurisdiction determined when someone is arrested on Federal and State charges at the same time? For example, if federal and state police raid a local drug dealer together and the suspect is arrested on federal drug charges but a local officer is assaulted in the process. Which case has priority?, Is it the one arraigned first, or does federal always have priority in terms of trials, which sentence is served first, custody etc. Also sometimes in white collar crime cases when someone is charged with federal violations they are also charged with breaking state laws at the same time. Which charge trumps the other?

OPM's policy on drug testing

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 05:47:31 -0800

I am thinking about applying for a job at the Federal Office of Personnel Management. They say they do drug screening, but no specifics are given. I've smoked pot one or twice recently and I am a bit concerned. Does anyone know what kind of testing (hair, urine, blood) they do? How do they feel about marijuana use? Do they do random testing once you get hired? I plan on being honest about my drug use, so I'm not worried about a lie detector, just passing the test. I don't think I'll be tested for several months, but I want to know what to expect so that I can plan my future actions accordingly. I don't think it will be needed, but if any more information is necessary I can be reached at anonmefiuser@hotmail.com. Thank you for any information.

I want to work for the gubmint

reenum — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 06:01:00 -0800

I need help on the Federal job application process I'm an attorney and have been in private practice in various positions for the last 3 years. Recently, I decided to make a change to the government sector.

I've been checking the USAJobs site, and applying like crazy.

My problem is that I cannot really find any examples of successful or good Federal resumes, cover letters, or KSA responses. I have a book from the library that was published in 1995, which has some good advice. But, I wonder how much of that advice is outdated.

So, hive mind, can you please point me to any websites, books, or other sources that deal with how to write a winning Federal job application packet?

Thanks a ton!

Should I get dental/vision insurance? If so, which plan?

n'muakolo — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 07:49:00 -0800

Federal employee health benefit open season started today. I'm overwhelmed with the choices! Can anyone help me sort this out? I'm in my twenties, in decent health, single. I live in zip code 33139. I consider myself to have weak teeth - I have good dental hygiene and don't eat much sweets, but I've had lots of caveties and a root canal. As for vision, I recently (almost 2 years ago) had to get glasses for the first time - 1 pair for night driving, 1 pair for computer work. And apparently the prescription is a bit wierd, so I can't just pick up glasses at CVS.

I'm trying to decide whether I should get dental/vision insurance and if so, which plans I should get. I've read the comparisons online (http://www.opm.gov/insure/dentalvision/dental.asp), and just really don't know what to do.

Any advice or even general wisdom would be appreciated.

US Government wee sized offices?

sperose — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 01:14:15 -0800

On the hunt for unique and odd US government offices (somewhat for entertainment, seriously for a job.) [Oh yes, there is somewhat more inside.] After learning about the Flag Corps office (Metroblogging DC link), I'm now curious about other small, odd, or unique government offices/agencies.

I'm looking for a list (didn't find much via Wikipedia) of these sort of odd places that the government works. Places that wouldn't typically show up on many people's radar, basically.

Part of this is basically just my own random curiousity but there is also a part of me that would like to work in a place like the Flag Corps at some point soon. (Brief history: graduated with a BA in English (Creative Writing) and Psychology in May. Currently obtaining a MSA concentrating in Federal Programs Management. I live in MD. My dad works for the DoD. My mother is an accountant with a Japanese pharm company.)

Please help me find somewhere I could possibly fit in. The government seems like it's nothing but giant agencies where an extreme introvert like me would get eaten alive.

Thanks hive mind. (If y'all want more info, let me know.)

What if I don't RETURN TO SENDER?

cmonkey — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 09:36:15 -0800

If I open a piece of mail that was delivered to my house, but addressed to a former resident, is that, legally, "stealing mail" and thus a federal offense? Assume that I haven't done anything shady to recieve this mail, and also assume that I don't really care about the "ethics" or "morals" of doing it.

Setting Up a Company

Tommy Gnosis — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 09:35:06 -0800

Is there an online service that can help me set up a new company (either as a GP or LLC) and get Federal and State Tax ID's quickly? [more inside] I was just awarded a consulting contract, and need to set up a company fairly quickly (in 2 weeks' time). Is anyone aware of a service for helping expedite this? It will be a sole proprietership, so I don't need anything fancy, just the right paper work, tax ID's and subsequently a bank account. Thanks!

US tax question - telecommuiting

445supermag — Sun, 16 Jan 2005 18:44:50 -0800

Taxfilter: telecommuting across state lines. [mi] We moved from Montana to California last March, my wife continued to work a couple hours a day for her Montana employer (she's a grant writer). Since we lived in both states last year I know we will have to file in both states, but where does my wife have to pay on wages earned from Montana, but living in CA? I though that the bookkeeper at her employer had looked into it, but just learned that they have just been taking out MT taxes with no change. We've always done our own taxes, do we need professional help?