If you’re anything like me (broke, and a severe procrastinator when it comes to taxes) then you might want to check this out. While the “free” edition of online tax programs, like Intuit’s TurboTax and H&R Block’s TaxCut, will let you file your federal taxes for free, they generally charge you anywhere from $20 to $30 to file your state taxes.

Well, I found a well-hidden bit on Intuit’s site – something they’re calling the ‘TurboTax Freedom Edition’. I know, the name made me a little sick too. But, if you’re making under $30,000, qualified for EIC (earned income credit), or where on active duty in 2008 – you should more than likely qualify for free state filing in addition to the free federal. There are a limited number of states participating in the program, but even if your not in one of the listed states, I believe you can still file for a reduced cost of $9.95.

Anyhow – thought I’d pass this info along to all of my broke friends with simple tax needs and similarly severe procrastination issues like myself. I mean, screw a bunch of having to pay to pay my taxes. (if you own a house or business, etc, this obviously isn’t going to work for you)

You qualify for a free state filing, too, if you are filing in a state that sponsors a Free File Program. Free File Program states include: AL, AR, AZ, GA, ID, IA, KY, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NY, ND, NC, OK, OR, RI, SC, VT, WV

Charlie Papazian, President of the Brewers Association of America, and also known as the ‘Beer Examiner’ of The Examiner is currently running a poll through May 7th to the find the best beer city in the USA. Asheville is a strong 2nd to Portland, which all in all is pretty impressive. But I’d be severely disappointed if we didn’t pull out a win here. Go here and vote for Asheville as the Beer City, USA!

If for some reason you need more convincing about the kick-ass beers of Asheville, take the official tour itself!

I just finished reading an article about how a task force of experts convened by the federal government is recommending that doctors routinely screen all American teens for depression; that means research-tested screening tests even for kids without symptoms. This would boldly exceed current guidelines put out by the pediatrics academy advising that pediatricians ask teen patients questions about depression, and even more so suggestions that only high-risk teens be screened.

Fucking A, people. They’re teenagers. Of course a majority of them are “depressed”. What do you think the kid’s screening above is going to show? That he’s ecstatic about life, homework and riding in the back of his mom’s minivan to school?

Unfortunately, what I really find disturbing about this report has nothing to do with overly cautious or misguided mental health care. It’s more so a very calculated form of care that has me concerned.  The number of psychiatrists that specialize in child and teen treatment make up a fairly low percentage of the entire field. So while it’s being suggested that we up the number screenings and testing for clinical depression, how are we supposed to treat these kids?  Interestingly, in a separate but related report recently released, the pediatrics academy and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry are pushing for primary care doctors (pediatricians and family physicians) to provide more mental health services to patients, along with compensation for such mental health services by insurers.

Except, wait… most primary care doctors don’t even have a background in psychotherapy. However, there’s nothing stopping them from prescribing depression medication. Already, family doctors are the ones filling more and more of these prescriptions, and in many cases, this is the only treatment such patients are receiving. It doesn’t take a lot of research to find that antidepressant prescriptions are already on an alarming rise, specifically up some 16 million between 2002-2005. Take a pill and it’s fixed, right?

So suddenly, you have an increasing amount of patients with ‘disorders’, due to what are seemingly looser standard diagnostic guides. There’s the push to take these newer, all-encompassing diagnostics, and test even more potential customers patients, such as all these clinically depressed teens. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies are pumping out increasingly more expensive drugs that, the more you look, the more you’ll find are rarely to have proven any more effective than previous medications. Oh, and never mind that they were also meant to treat something completely different than what they’re now being prescribed for (often because they were found ineffective or even dangerous for their originally intended purpose). And since there’s not enough specialized doctors (psychiatrists) to treat this ever-growing number of disorders, why not encourage untrained general practitioners to stock them up next time they’re in for a physical?

If that doesn’t bother you, then maybe this must-read story will, about how a flawed schizophrenia drug was turned into a $16 billion profit and treatment for “misbehaving kids”.

Notable related articles:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/25569107/bitter_pill
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-medicated-americans
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/116066.php
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29945008/

My friend Tony Gutierrez needs a roommate, and one that doesn’t suck. Tony: Don’t pawn the metal detector man. You’ll find a roommate soon little buddy. Tough it out and keep eating those gas station hot dogs.

Join the movement. IE 6 sucks balls, and there is no good reason it should still be as widely used as it is. To join the fight, click at http://www.bringdownie6.com/

“The premise is simple: Internet Explorer 6 is antiquated, doesn’t support key web standards, and should be phased out. This isn’t about being anti-Microsoft, it’s about Microsoft’s lack of development in the browser market. With IE7/8 not available for Windows 2000, IE6 accounts for up to 20% of web usage, primarily via business users. Clients pressure designers to ‘force’ sites to work in IE6, and designers, not wanting to lose business, comply, using hacks and workarounds. This wastes time and money. Microsoft needs to fix this, designers need to unite, and we all need to move on.”