cynicated.com

Not that I’ve ever wondered, but apparently, it’s pretty common for prostitutes to pay taxes. Surprised?  According to this article, many prostitutes seek tax advice — especially with the line that asks them to identify their profession and service offered.

It turns out that the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination permits a prostitute to leave this line blank or provide a vague answer like “sale of leisure services.”

However, it is required to fill out a code for their line of business.  The most common advice, apparently, is to fill out the form stating the nature of their business as “other amusement and recreation services.”  Sounds rather accurate.

I just never expected prostitutes to be such law abiding citizens!  I guess it doesn’t help that the punishment for prostitution is less severe than the punishment for tax evasion. Apparently, prostitutes aren’t out to screw the government, just the rest of us.

I’m becoming very enamored with the Slate Explainer page.  Being the type who needs to know the hows and whys behind things, I find that their explanations of how things happen with regards to the news is somewhat refreshing and totally fascinating.  But there are times when I’m just not sure…

Take, for example, their recent article discussing how long it really takes to dissolve a human body in lye.  While it’s no secret that this is a viable way to dispose of a human body, I find myself at a bit of a loss regarding the practicality of this article.  I mean, how many people out there really need to know this information?  Worse still, how many people will read this and think “Man!  I’ve got to try this for myself!”  And worse still, how many of those people will actually attempt to dissolve something just to see if it actually works?

If there’s nothing else I know, it’s that there are a lot of stupid people in this world.  So if you’re one of them, and you attempt to dissolve something, please — let me know if it works and how long it takes!