A Blog Tax??????????

I know that the city of Philadelphia is having financial problems but this really takes the cake!

It seems that if you have a blog or website that is making money then you have to pay for what is called a business license. According to an online article:

"All bloggers earning a profit have to pay $300 a year to be licensed in Philadelphia"

If your blog earns you more than $50 per year then you have to pay for the business license!

One way that people earn money with their blogs is with the Google Adsense program. (You can find out more about the Adsense program by visiting The Adsense Consultant's Blog.) The Adsense program lets you earn money from home by placing ads on your website or blog.

You see when you make over a certain amount with the adsense program you receive a tax statement at the end of the year showing how much you earned and I'm assuming that somewhere the city of Philadelphia finds that information - meaning that they will contact you asking for your payment for the business license.

What really seems to be unfair is that bloggers will have to pay for the $300 lifetime ($50 per year) license even if they don't even make enough money to pay for the license itself!

You can read the article by clicking here.

Officials Warn of Scams That Steal Homes from Elderly « KYW Newsradio 1060

Officials Warn of Scams That Steal Homes from Elderly « KYW Newsradio 1060

Is Septa Going To Go On Strike?

Is Septa going to go on strike? Well that seems to be the popular question today! People in Philadelphia and the surrounding area are wondering if Septa is going to go on strike. They have a good reason to be worried about it though because a lot of people use Septa! In fact I was at the supermarket today and it was packed apparently because people were trying to get their shopping done before the 6pm deadline that was set for the Septa workers to go on strike.

Apparently the major bone of contention is about salaries and benefits and the last word that I heard from KYW news radio was that both the union and Septa are still negotiating and that they might possible have a meeting tomorrow - Sunday - which is highly unusual but both sides feel that the sooner they solve this thing the better.

So as of right now, both sides are still negotiating and the Septa buses and trolleys are still running! Whew!




Update!

November 3, 2009

I was shocked when I heard on the news that Septa has actually gone on strike! It seems that they made the decision to go on strike early in the morning and there were many commuters who had not heard the news of the strike and so they were caught off guard when they were trying to get to work!

I heard them interviewing them on the news and the people were saying that they wished that they had known that Septa had decided to go on strike so that they could make other plans on how they were going to get to work.

It seems that hospitals in the Philadelphia area have made contingency plans to help their workers get to work. I heard on the radio that one Philadelphia-area hospital would be opening more spaces for parking and charging $5 for their workers to park in those spaces.

Others commuters are taking cabs.

There's no telling how long this strike is going to last!

Michael Vick? - I Guess I Should "Weigh" In!

Michael Vick was all over the news today and since I'm from Philadelphia I guess I should "weigh" in and offer my own opinion as well.

First a little background information for those of you that don't know what this is all about.

Michael Vick, a professional football player was convicted in a dogfighting ring crime. He spent 2 years in prison and now the Philadelphia Eagles are hiring him back saying that everyone deserves a second chance - which I really can't argue with.

Fans and regular people have been interviewed and it looks as though the opinions are half and half. Half feel that he does deserve a second chance and the other half think that the Philadelphia Eagles should have not signed him back with the Eagles.

Here is my own personal opinion:

I am an animal lover myself and I think that what he did was just awful and horrible! However I can't argue with the fact that people deserve a second chance. So we are just going to have to see how he lives the rest of his life.

Septa Bus Driver Injured!

I just heard about this on the news! I don't have all the details but from what I heard the bus driver was nice enough to let the assailants ride the bus without having to pay the extra fare but at the end of the bus's run they still went and beat up the bus driver!

Now I do know a little bit about this "fare" business in that when you go out of the city limits you have to pay an additional zone fare because you're entering another location outside the city of Philadelphia. Add to that - if you have already gotten a bus transfer you still have to pay the addition zone fare if you go out of the city limits.

I know that its upsetting and a hassle to have to pay so much in bus fares but in this particular case, the bus driver was nice enough to let them ride the bus because the bus driver said that he didn't want them to be stranded. Which was a very nice thing to do and look at what happens!

The news reports said that the Septa bus driver is going to be OK and you can read more about this story by clicking here.

The Death Of Harry Kalas

I heard about the death of Harry Kalas on the news today. Even though I'm not a big Phillies fan, I do remember the voice of Harry Kalas! He had a very distinctive voice which was very nice to listen to.

I believe that he was in his 70's and I think I heard on the news about when his parents took him to a ballgame it was then that he knew what he wanted to do with his life.

He took ill while getting ready for a Phillies game. He was taken to the hospital and unfortunately he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Even though this is sad news for Philadelphia Phillies fans at least everyone knows that he died doing what it was that he loved to do!

Brian Dawkins Has Been Traded!

I'm not a very big sports fan but one of the most popular sports news topics of the day is the fact that Brian Dawkins will no longer be playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. It is my understanding that he has been an "Eagle" for the past 13 years and the fans are sad to see him go.

Apparently there was some issue with the contract offering in that the Eagles didn't offer him enough money so that is when he decided to leave.

There are lots of blog posts and news stories about this and like I mentioned above I'm not a real big sports fan but this is a big part of the kind of current news stories that are happening in the Philadelphia area.

The Philadelphia Inquirer Filing For Bankruptcy?

I couldn't believe it when I heard on the news that the Philadelphia Inquirer was filing for bankruptcy! Actually its the company that owns the Inquirer that is filing for bankruptcy.

Everytime I see that building on Broad Street it reminds me that the building and the Inquirer are another "staple" of the Philadelphia area! And besides the Philadelphia Tribune, the Inquirer was one of the major newspapers in the area! I always relish getting the coupons that were included in the Sunday Edition of the Inquirer.


Of course I miss the building that used to house the Philadelphia Bulletin and what I miss most of all is seeing the headlines that appeared on the side of the building.

I haven't been in this area for a while and I don't what is in the building now but I'm pretty sure my memory is correct in that the building is located near the 30th Street Station.

I don't know what this bankruptcy filing is going to mean for the newspaper but I'm wondering how Philadelphia would fare if they didn't have at least one major newspaper for the area?

The Mummers Parade Continues for 2009!

Well it looks like the Mummers' tradition continues!

The Mummers were able to have their traditional 2009 parade and strut down Broad Street!

A few weeks ago it was announced by Philadelphia's Mayor Michael Nutter that the city of Philadelphia wouldn't be paying for the Mummer's Day Parade and that got a lot of people upset! However, the Mummers were able to secure financial donations so that they could have their parade this year.

Here are some related links where you can find out more:

• MyPHL17 News About The Mummers
  
  
• News From The Associated Press
  
  
• The Philadelphia Mummers Website

Temple University Gets A BIG Donation!

College gets anonymous $5 million in the mail: Kind-hearted donor sends big checks to help educate women and minorities *

The checks to Temple University really were in the mail -- for $5 million. It was a total surprise for the school to receive the anonymous donations, which arrived in a pair of nondescript envelopes sent via U.S. mail from a bank in Arizona, said Stuart Sullivan, Temple's senior vice president for institutional advancement.

source
MSNBC

Philadelphia's New Mayor!

Well it looks like Philadelphia has a new mayor. Michael Nutter was sworn in today and I saw a bit of it on the news. One of his main agendas is fighting the high crime rate in Philadelphia. He is asking for community support from all the residents of the city.

Only time will tell as to how good he is.

Philadelphia Wind Advisory Until Tomorrow Afternoon!

Philadelphia is currently under a wind advisory until tomorrow (Monday) afternoon!

Wind gusts of up to 50 mph can be expected!

The Most Dangerous City In The World?

You would think that with watching the local news that Philadelphia is the most dangerous city in the world but here is an article that says it is not. I don't think that Philly even made it in the top ten!

Currently it seems that Philadelphia has had more murders than in the number of days so far this year. It's sad to know that there are other areas that have even a higher crime rate.

Camden, NJ is on the list though!

The National Building Implosion

In case you missed it the old National Building has been imploded and the convention center in Philadelphia will be expanded. Now I have had occassion to be around the area where the convention center is located and it was already a huge place! But I guess they need more room! I do know that if the Philadelphia convention center is expanded then they will have more room for more events thus being able for them to make more money.

I think I remember hearing in the news about how the convention center was saying that their lack of space accounted for them not being able to book as many events as they would like - so this will probably help.

Personally I like the older buildings in Philadelphia but I guess it wasn't feasable to keep that building up and operating. At least its not because they want to put another luxury apartment or condo building in the space but I suspect that we will be getting more of those anyway.