From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos
From Address: weberm{at}polaris.net
Subject: William Shatner 'Appalled' by IRS 'Star Trek' Parody

http://mashable.com/2013/03/26/irs-star-trek-parody-video/

By Vignesh Ramachandran

The original Captain Kirk is not happy following revelations that the 
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) spent thousands of taxpayer dollars to 
produce a Star Trek parody video.

On Friday, the IRS admitted they spent $60,000 to make training videos 
that parodied TV shows Star Trek and Gilligan's Island, the Associated 
Press reported. The IRS videos were shown at a 2010 training conference 
and depict the spaceship set from Star Trek as well as characters like 
Spock. The parody plot, which includes a journey to the planet "No Tax," 
is explained in the video above; the full IRS video is below.

Actor William Shatner, who portrayed Captain James T. Kirk in the 
original Star Trek series, took to Twitter to share his disappointment 
with the agency.

.So I watched that IRS video. I am appalled at the utter waste 
.of US tax dollars.

.u William Shatner ({at}WilliamShatner) March 26, 2013

Last Wednesday, U.S. House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman 
Charles Boustany, Jr. (R-La.) demanded in a letter that the IRS  release 
a copy of the videos to the committee.

"Boustany has publicly requested that, in the interest of transparency, 
the IRS release the videos so that taxpayers can be assured that 
resources were used efficiently and in a manner keeping with the IRSAs 
core mission," the committee said in a statement.

In a statement to the AP, the IRS admitted that producing the Star Trek 
video was a mistake and said "a video of this type would not be made 
today."

https://www.youtube.com/embed/VxU6n4pAnrU?rel=0

"The IRS recognizes and takes seriously our obligation to be good 
stewards of government resources and taxpayer dollars," the IRS told the 
AP in a statement. "There is no mistaking that this video did not reflect 
the best stewardship of resources."

The videos were produced in the IRS' New Carrollton, Md., television 
production studio.

The news of the costly IRS expenditures comes just weeks before Americans 
face the April 15 deadline for filing federal tax returns.


-- 
"WeAre gonna punish our enemies and weAre gonna reward our friends"
        -- Barack "Dear Ruler" Obama



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