Vicks cold medicine

Was bit by cold from yesterday and just bought "Vicks Nyquil" and did some work on what it is and how is it different from other similar products.


Nyquil Flu and cold liquid caps ingredients are

• Acetaminophen - 325mg (Pain reliever/Fever reducer)
• Dextromethorphan Hbr 15mg (Cough suppressant)
• Doxylamine 6.25mg (Antihistamine)
• Inactive ingreditents: D&C Yellow No. 10, FD&C Blue No. 1, gelatin, glycerin, polyethylene glycol, providone, propylene glycol, purified water, sorbital special, titanium dioxide.

Nyquil sinus liquid caps ingredients

• Acetaminophen - 325mg (Pain reliever/Fever reducer)
• Doxylamine Succinate - 6.25mg (Antihistamine)
• Phenylephrine HCI - 5mg (Nasala decongestant)
• Inactive ingredients: FD&C Blue No. 1, gelatin, glycerin, polyethylene glycol, providone, propylene glycol, purifiled water, sorbital special, titanium dioxide.

Nyquil Flu and cold relief liquid ingredients

• Acetaminophen - 500mg (Pain reliever/Fever reducer)
• Dextromethorphan Hbr - 15mg (Cough suppressant)
• Doxylamine Succiante - 6.25 mg (Antihistamine)
• Inactive ingredients: acesulfame potassium, alchohol, citric acid, D&C Yellow No. 10, FD&C Green No. 3, FD&C Yellow No. 6, flavour, high fructose corn syrup, polyethylen glycol, propylene glycol, purified water, saccharin sodium, sodium citrate,

Vicks dayquil flu and cold liquid caps ingredients are below.

• Acetaminophen - 325mg (Pain reliever/Fever reducer)
• Dextromethorphan Hbr - 15mg (Cough suppressant)
• Phenylephrine - 15mg (Nasal decongestant)
• Inactive ingredients: FD&C Yellow No. 6, FD&C Red No. 40, gelatin, glycerin, polyethylene glycol, providone, propylene glycol, purified water, sorbital special, titanium dioxide etc.

Vicks dayquil sinus liquid caps ingredients are below.

• Acetaminophen - 325mg (Pain reliever/Fever reducer)
• Phenylephrine HCI 5mg (Nasal decongestant)
• Inactive ingredients: FD&C Yellow No. 6, gelatin, glycerin, polyethlyne glycol, providone, propylene glycol, purified water, sorbital special, titanium dioxide etc.

Acetaminophen (APAP or also called paracetamol) is common pain reliever in cough, cold, fever and sleep aid products. Liver stays right near the stomach and breaks down the toxics and chemicals entering body. Taking too much drug (more than 4000mg) a day loads liver and causes damage.

Dextromethorphan(DXM) is cough suppressant. As FDA approved it as cough suppressant in 1958, it replaced older drug codeine phosphate. Over dosage causes brain damage, seizure, loss of consciousness and heart beat irregularities.

Doxylamine is antihistamine used in night time cold medicines. It causes dizziness and lightheartedness. It is not advised to use during day because it impairs to work on machines or drive a vehicle.

Phenylephrine is nasal decongestant that shrinks blood vessels in nasal passages, as dilated blood vessels cause nasal congestion or stuffy nose. It may interact with blood pressure and diabetes medications and antidepressants.

Buying home in India and its tax consequences

I got the following response from IRS regarding my question on buying home in other country and taking loan from a nonlocal bank that does not issue form 1098. I am placing it here thinking that might be helpful for others.

---------------------------

NOTE: Thank you for your inquiry. Our response to your tax law question appears below. I hope this information has been helpful. If you have a follow-up question or another general tax law question, please return to our web site at: www.irs.gov.

Please do not use your "reply" button to respond to this message. More helpful information is provided at the end of this message.


Your Question Was:
Hi, I bought a home in India on a loan from Indian bank. I did not get 1098 form from them. I am a resident alien. Can I claim interest on loan that I paid them as interest under interest tax deduction with out getting 1098 form?


The Answer To Your Question Is:
Thank you for your recent inquiry.

Regarding your question on mortgage interest deduction, according to Publication 936 (Home Mortgage Interest Deduction) generally, home mortgage interest is any interest you pay on a loan secured by your (home main home or a second home). The loan may be a mortgage to buy your home, a second mortgage, a line of credit, or a home equity loan.

You can deduct home mortgage interest if all following conditions are met. 1.) You file Form 1040 (U.S. Individual Tax Return) and itemize deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040). 2.) You are legally liable for the loan. 3.) There is a true debtor-creditor relationship between you and the lender. 4.) The mortgage is a secured debt on a qualified home in which you have an ownership interest. You should take the deduction on line 10 or line 11 of (such year) Schedule A (Form 1040.) Line 11 is used when the home mortgage interest amount is not reported on a Form 1098. Please see the instructions for more information.

For you to take a home mortgage interest deduction, your debt must be secured by a qualified home. This means your main home or your second home. A home includes a house, condominium, cooperative, mobile home, house trailer, boat, or similar property that has sleeping, cooking, and toilet facilities.

The interest you pay on a mortgage on a home other than your main or second home may be deductible if the proceeds of the loan were used for business, investment, or other deductible purposes. Otherwise, it is considered personal interest and is not deductible.

Main home: You can have only one main home at any one time. This is the home where you ordinarily live most of the time.
Second home: A second home is a home that you choose to treat as your second home.
Second home not rented out: If you have a second home that you do not hold out for rent or resale to others at any time during the year, you can treat it as a qualified home. You do not have to use the home during the year. For more information see Publication 936 and Schedule A, (Form 1040) Itemized Deductions, and Instructions.

If you have any more questions on this topic please contact customer service at this number: (215-516-2000) between the hours of 6:00AM- 11:00PM (EST) Monday- Friday. Please be advised this is not a toll free number. Also, you could find and download information, including forms, instructions and publications, on our website: www.irs.gov

Thank you for using this service.


IRS forms and publications may be accessed on our web site at the following address: www.irs.gov or ordered through our toll-free forms line at: 800-829-3676
Expect delivery within 10 business days.

Other useful toll-free numbers include:
800-829-1040 IRS Tax Help Line for Individuals
800-829-4933 Business and Specialty Tax Help Line
800-829-1954 Refund Hotline
866-562-5227 Disaster Relief Toll-Free Number, Monday
through Friday, 7 am to 10:00 pm local time

We are interested in your opinion and providing the best possible service to you. Please take a moment to answer our survey at: http://www.irs.gov/help/page/0,,id=13155,00.html

This answer is based on our understanding of the facts you presented in your question. Omission of facts may affect the answer given.

Here's a tip for navigating the IRS web site. Use the "search" button at the right side of the web page. Enter key words or phrases for your topic in the entry box.

For security reasons and to protect taxpayer privacy, the IRS does not address taxpayer account-related issues for which personal, identifying information would be needed through e-mail.

Our basic Electronic Tax Law Assistance service is designed to assist the general public in complying with their Federal tax obligations by helping them with questions they have about the tax law and procedural issues. Our goal is to provide complete and accurate responses to as many taxpayers as possible.

If you have additional questions, you may contact us either by phone at 1-800-829-1040 or by email through our web site www.irs.gov.


EMPLOYEE ID: 0198874 Mr. Larmour Tel.:English--(215) 516-2000 Spanish--(800)-829-1040 msg#: 1816709

Chocolate facts

Watched this video today:

Wonder how much of that is true. Video provides the following information.

* Chocolate comes from a plant that is native to central america. Cacao beans or coco beans are processed to get coco butter and sugar will be added. white chocolate is sugar added to cocoa butter. Milk chocolate is milk plus sugar and coco butter.
* History of chocolate goes back to 1400 BC. Aztecs made a drink out of coco beans. Chocolate comes from the Aztec word XOCOLaaTL, which is actually two words that mean bitter water. They brew coco beans like a coffee and so name is from its taste.
* Average american consume about 22 pounds of chocolate every year. That is equivalent to 2.8 billion pounds every year for entire country.
* 92% of them eat milk chocolate that does not have any anti-oxidants.
* Hershey produce 45%, Mars produce 15%, Nestle produce 15% and most chocolate is produced from America.
* It takes 27000 square miles of land to produce that chocolate. That area is equivalent to three times size of NJ, a little larger than west Virginia or little bit smaller than south Carolina.
* Hershey standard bar has 20% coco. Coco percentage goes down, when sugar percentage goes up.
* Dark chocolate is better than milk chocolate. Dark chocolate has anti-oxidants.  Anti oxidants help fight cell damage, fight cell deterioration and combat stress. They have benefits.
* Most chocolates on the market are processed with alkalites that causes loss of anti-oxidants.
* Consuming 40gm of dark chocolate causes anti oxidants to stay in blood for six hours.
* Chocolate contains stearic acid, a fatty acid. Stearic acid does not cause to rise cholesterol level. It is similar to coconut ingredients.
* Dark chocolate has also some minerals in it, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc.
* Chocolate has readdictive drugs and substances, out of which two are drugs, sugar, caffeine and theo-bromine.
* Caffeine and Nicotine are natural pesticides developed by some plants to keep bugs from eating those pants.
* Theo-bromine is stimulus substance deadly to horses, dogs, cats, parrots and rodents.
* There is no living animal on earth that would eat raw coco bean.
* Humans have ability to metabolite and eliminate theo-bromin.
* Giving little bit of chocolate to pets make them sick and too much of them can cause them to die.
* Pet clinics are overwhelmed during the Halloween times because owners gave their Halloween candy to their pets.
* It is outlawed to give chocolate to race horses, because it causes unfair advantage and is going to speed up the racing ability.
* Plants have bitter flavor in taste as survival mechanism.
* Theobromine is considered to be a contributing factor to acid reflex, since it relaxes the muscle between stomach and aciphex.
* Chocolate has high calorie content. Standard Hershey milk chocolate with serving size 55gm contains 270 calories, 140 calories from fat and 16 gms of total fat which is equal to 25% of total fat for the day.
* Milk chocolate has 33gm of carbohydrates and 31gm of those are from sugar, that is equivalent to 7.5 tea spoons of sugar.
* Chocolate has no vitamins, fiber and enzymes.
* Average chocolate has 220 calories. That is equivalent to calories from one whole apple, one and half oranges or a cup of whole strawberries.
* Chocolate has very few healthy benefits but is not as good as eating fruit.

Firefox is not free!

See firefox snippet in Townhall meeting to announce the QDDR.

MS. GREENBERG: Okay. Our next question comes from Jim Finkle:

Can you please let the staff use an alternative web browser called Firefox? I just – (applause) – I just moved to the State Department from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and was surprised that State doesn’t use this browser. It was approved for the entire intelligence community, so I don’t understand why State can’t use it. It’s a much safer program. Thank you. (Applause.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, apparently, there’s a lot of support for this suggestion. (Laughter.) I don’t know the answer. Pat, do you know the answer? (Laughter.)

UNDER SECRETARY KENNEDY: The answer is at the moment, it’s an expense question. We can --

QUESTION: It’s free. (Laughter.)

UNDER SECRETARY KENNEDY: Nothing is free. (Laughter.) It’s a question of the resources to manage multiple systems. It is something we’re looking at. And thanks to the Secretary, there is a significant increase in the 2010 budget request that’s pending for what is called the Capital Investment Fund, by which we fund our information technology operations. With the Secretary’s continuing pushing, we’re hoping to get that increase in the Capital Investment Fund. And with those additional resources, we will be able to add multiple programs to it.

Yes, you’re correct; it’s free, but it has to be administered, the patches have to be loaded. It may seem small, but when you’re running a worldwide operation and trying to push, as the Secretary rightly said, out FOBs and other devices, you’re caught in the terrible bind of triage of trying to get the most out that you can, but knowing you can’t do everything at once.

SECRETARY CLINTON: So we will try to move toward that. When the White House was putting together the stimulus package, we were able to get money that would be spent in the United States, which was the priority, for IT and upgrading our system and expanding its reach. And this is a very high priority for me, and we will continue to push the envelope on it. I mean, Pat is right that everything does come with some cost, but we will be looking to try to see if we can extend it as quickly as possible.

It raises another issue with me. If we’re spending money on things that are not productive and useful, let us know, because there are tens of thousands of people who are using systems and office supplies and all the rest of it. The more money we can save on stuff that is not cutting edge, the more resources we’ll have to shift to do things that will give us more tools. I mean, it sounds simplistic, but one of the most common suggestions on the sounding board was having better systems to utilize supplies, paper supplies – I mean, office supplies – and be more conscious of their purchasing and their using.

And it reminded me of what I occasionally sometimes do, which I call shopping in my closet, which means opening doors and seeing what I actually already have, which I really suggest to everybody, because it’s quite enlightening. (Laughter.) And so when you go to the store and you buy, let’s say, peanut butter and you don’t realize you’ve got two jars already at the back of the shelf – I mean, that sounds simplistic, but help us save money on stuff that we shouldn’t be wasting money on, and give us the chance to manage our resources to do more things like Firefox, okay?

Yeah.

Election Results

My respect towards America increased today. Whether Barack Obama has all the potential to lead country or not, people are able to think out of the box and ignore the race and other prejudices to elect him. Great!

Hurricane names

Having seen hurricanes Gustav, Henna and Ike on news recently, I googled to see who names them and what the selection criteria is.

U.S. National Hurricane center keeps six lists of names, with one list used each year. Each list has one name for each alphabet. When they ran out the list, they will use greek letters like alpha, beta etc. Lists are recycled every year and deadly storms will be replaced with different name from list.  That is good rationale. I once watched a scary documentary on camile hurricane. Yes, people definitely do not want to hear about it again.

Sources:

* Lists of tropical storm names from nasa pages

* List of tropical storm names from wikipedia pages

Video broadcast formats

It is hard to remember and keep track of various media/formats for video. Now a friend of mine gave this link, I see apple's nice page for broadcast formats. As more and more video formats are introduced every year, it is one year old but useful.