Okay, confession time.

I get all my news from other people.

It’s true. I am a writer, not a journalist, and a bit liberal, so the news has mostly depressed or annoyed me for the last, oh, 10 years, so I just stopped watching/listening/reading.

What this translates to is that I get ALL my news from other people, usually via listservs and occasionally via email links. Occasionally this leads to my “hot topics” being woefully out of date.

In this case, I posted on July 24th about the IRS using private tax collectors, here. Turns out, the article I used to source that post came out on June 29th. On July 18th – six days BEFORE I posted about the House’s failed efforts to eliminate private tax collection, it was overturned.

For the real, current scoop, check out this article from CNNMoney.com. And remember, always check the dates on information BEFORE you pass it on. And if you happen to be my mother, always check snopes.com before forwarding me urgent news about how microwaving food in plastic containers will give me cancer.