Beanie Babies Creator Charged with Tax Evasion

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The creator of some of the world’s most beloved stuffed animals is getting no love from the IRS.

Ty Warner, who made billions when demand exploded for his Beanie Babies in the 1990s, was charged Wednesday with federal tax evasion, accused of failing to report more than $3 million he earned in a secret offshore account.

Warner, 69, has agreed to plead guilty and will pay a civil penalty of $53.6 million, his lawyer, George Scandaglia, said in a statement.

“This is an unfortunate situation that Mr. Warner has been trying to resolve for several years now,” Scandaglia said. “Mr. Warner accepts full responsibility for his actions with this plea agreement.”

Warner, ranked 209th on Forbes Magazine’s list of richest Americans with an estimated worth of $2.6 billion, generally sold his Beanie Babies for less than $10. At the peak of their popularity in the 1990s, resale of some favored versions could draw several times their retail value.

Read more from this story HERE.

Australia’s New Prime Minister Scraps Carbon Tax and Halts Asylum-Seeking Boats

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: AFP

Photo Credit: AFP

Tony Abbott was sworn in as Australia’s new prime minister on Wednesday and immediately ordered the scrapping of the nation’s carbon tax and the halting of asylum-seeker boats.

The 55-year-old conservative launched straight into work with a cabinet meeting after the ceremony at Government House in Canberra where his Liberal/National government officially brought six years of Labor rule to a close.

“Today is not just a ceremonial day, it’s an action day. The Australian people expect us to get straight down to business and that’s exactly what this government will do,” said, Abbott, a political hardman who has worked to soften his macho image in recent months.

In presenting his frontbench team to Governor-General Quentin Bryce, he added: “We will be a problem-solving government based on values not ideology.”

Abbott was elected on September 7 on a pledge to quickly scrap taxes on corporate pollution and mining profits imposed under Labor, as well as introducing a costly paid parental leave scheme and a vow to build new roads across the vast nation.

Read more from this story HERE.

Giants CB Prince Amukamara: ‘Some People Call Me The Black Tim Tebow’

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Joe Robbins/Getty

Photo Credit: Joe Robbins/Getty

Tim Tebow is long gone from this town.

He was released by the Jets on April 29 and is now nothing more than an afterthought in New York. But Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara is now being compared to Tebow, who was released by the Patriots on Aug. 31.

The comparison doesn’t have to do with their play on the field, but rather their actions off the field.

Big Blue’s first-round draft pick in 2011 told Muscle and Fitness that he never drinks alcohol, and is committed to staying celibate.

Read more from this story HERE.

We’ll be Uploading our Entire MINDS to Computers by 2045, Google Expert Claims

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Science Photo Library

Photo Credit: Science Photo Library

In just over 30 years, humans will be able to upload their entire minds to computers and become digitally immortal – an event called singularity – according to a futurist from Google.

Ray Kurzweil, director of engineering at Google, also claims that the biological parts of our body will be replaced with mechanical parts and this could happen as early as 2100.

Kurweil made the claims during his conference speech at the Global Futures 2045 International Congress in New York at the weekend.

The conference was created by Russian multimillionaire Dmitry Itskov and featured visonary talks about how the world will look by 2045.

Kurzweil said: ‘Based on conservative estimates of the amount of computation you need to functionally simulate a human brain, we’ll be able to expand the scope of our intelligence a billion-fold.’

Read more from this story HERE.

Disabled Veteran Kicked Off US Airways Plane, Refused to Put Service Dog on Floor (+video)

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Fox

Photo Credit: Fox

A newly released video has put valley-based US Airways in a tough position. A Vietnam vet with a service dog got into a heated discussion with a flight attendant and then was escorted off the plane for security reasons.

Video: “No! I’d appreciate if you’d get the hell off this ground and get where we’re going!”

Emotions ran high onboard a US Airways flight from Phoenix to El Paso. This video has gone viral.

“I’m sorry folks but I’ve earned the right to have this service animal because of my service to this country in Vietnam. I am 100 percent disabled, I have a service dog because of it and everyone has to obey the ADA laws except this airline! So I’m sorry but I’m not budging!”

This passenger wants his service dog, a golden retriever, to remain seated on the empty seat next to him.

Read more from this story HERE.

Federal Government to Seize NYC Skyscraper Tied to Iran

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

It was once known as the Piaget Building because the Swiss jeweler used to have offices in the skyscraper near Rockefeller Center.

In the near future, it will be known as property of the federal government.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest has granted a summary judgment that clears the way for the government to seize the 36-story office building owned by a corporation and foundation with ties to the Iranian government. The move is the latest chapter in a short but storied history that includes design by John Carl Warnecke, the same architect who drew up the John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, Logan International Airport in Boston and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

A statement by the U.S. Justice Department says the ruling “paves the way for the largest-ever terrorism-related forfeiture.”

The building at 650 Fifth Ave. in Manhattan is owned by the Alavi Foundation and Assa Corp., which took part in money laundering, the statement says. Assa is a front for Bank Melli, which is a “a front for the government of Iran,” according to the statement.

Read more from this story HERE.

Layoffs Coming to Cleveland Clinic in Plan to Reduce Budget by $330 Million (+video)

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: tlillis4

Photo Credit: tlillis4

The Cleveland Clinic has told workers they will be laying off an unspecified number of employees as part of an overall, sweeping cost-reduction plan.

Clinic CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove discussed the looming cuts and changes in a Wednesday morning all-employee meeting.

Clinic spokeswoman Eileen Sheil denied circulating rumors that employees were told there would be 3,000 jobs cut.

She said any layoffs will be part of a multi-year plan to cut $330 million from the Clinic’s budget.

The Clinic is the region’s largest employer with roughly 42,000 workers.

Read more from this story HERE.

Woman Suing Hospital, Doctors over Prank During Surgery

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Los Angeles County Superior Court

Photo Credit: Los Angeles County Superior Court

A Los Angeles woman is suing an area hospital after one of its surgeons affixed a fake mustache to her upper lip and fake tears and then photographed her – all while she was still under anesthesia.

ABC News reports the unnamed patient, who also worked at Torrance Memorial Medical Center, where the procedure was performed October 2011, also hit her unidentified anesthesiologist with a raft of incendiary legal claims.

The patient says she learned of the bizarre photos from co-workers who had seen them after returning to work as a surgical supply purchaser at the hospital.

“Perhaps the most vulnerable position any human being will ever endure in their life is a time when they are placed under full anesthesia,” reportedly reads the lawsuit, filed Aug. 15 in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Read more from this story HERE.

With the End of Fed’s QE in Sight, U.S. Public Says ‘Huh?’

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

The Federal Reserve this week is expected to start winding down an epic economic stimulus that is credited with helping the United States claw back from the deepest slump since the Great Depression.

The Fed’s $2.8 trillion “quantitative easing” program has, among other things, lifted stock prices to record highs, driven interest rates to record lows and put a floor under what had been a reeling housing market.

Yet barely a quarter of Americans even know what it is.

A poll leading up to the Fed’s pivotal decision, expected Wednesday afternoon, found just 27 percent of U.S. adults could pick the correct definition of quantitative easing from among five possible answers.

Quantitative easing, or QE for short, is when the Fed buys bonds in order to push down interest rates and boost the economy.

Read more from this story HERE.

Walgreens Changes Health Care Plan for 160,000 Workers Because of Obamacare (+video)

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: YouTube

Photo Credit: YouTube

CBS reports this morning that Walgreens is altering its health care plan for 160,000 workers due to Obamacare:

The plan, as CBS explains, is to protect the company from rising health care costs. Now who will cover the costs? The employees.

Read more from this story HERE.