Gaddafi’s Plastic Surgery: Brazilian Surgeon Claims He Operated On Dictator [HuffPo]
It was well past midnight when the Brazilian surgeon says he was escorted deep inside a bunker in the Libyan capital. His assignment: to shave years off Moammar Gadhafi’s appearance by removing fat from his belly and injecting it into his wrinkled face. The Libyan leader also got hair plugs. “He told me that he had been in power for 25 years at that time, and that he did not want the young people of his nation to see him as an old man,” Dr. Liacyr Ribeiro recalled. “I recommended a facelift, but he refused.”

The evolution of the CPA as CFO [CPA Success]
Tom Hood explains.

Trial dates set for Fairbanks-area ‘241’ defendants [Daily Newsminer]
May trial dates have been scheduled for a Salcha couple accused of plotting to murder a federal judge and an Internal Revenue Service agent, along with two others who reportedly helped them stockpile illegal weapons. Lonnie and Karen Vernon are accused of threatening to kill U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline and the IRS agent, along with threatening Beistline’s family.

KPMG names new managing partner for Birmingham [BBJ]
Joe Reid takes over for Matt Lusco.

How Long Has He Been President Now? [Tax Update Blog]
Joe Kristan, headline debunker.

Woman has fingertip bitten off in Walmart love triangle tiff [MSNBC]
In Florida, natch.

Auditors respond to Big Four clause investigation [Accountancy Age]
Restrictive bank clauses that force customers to use Big Four firms are to be investigated, and auditors have scrambled to respond. Martyn Jones, senior audit partner at Deloitte, professed no shock at the announcement, saying his firm welcomes the removal of restrictive agreements. “I believe in a level playing field”, he insisted, saying he had heard smaller auditors complain about the clauses, but had personally seen little evidence of them.

How Can I Securely Send Sensitive Tax Docs to My Tax Preparer? [Lifehacker]
News you can use.

China ‘to overtake US and dominate trade by 2013’ [BBC]
China’s global trade is set to surge past the US’ by 2030, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Currently, China’s international trade is worth $2.21 trillion (£1.36tn), compared with the $2.66tn (£1.64tn) for the US. China was confirmed as the world’s second-biggest economy earlier this year, overtaking Japan. According to the report by PwC, the coming years will see global trade undergo “fundamental change” as emerging economies such as China and India begin to “dominate the top sea and air freight routes”.

Republican Tax Chiefs Cool to Cisco, Google Offshore Tax Plan [Bloomberg]
The top Republican tax writers in the U.S. Congress aren’t endorsing a call by Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Google Inc. (GOOG) and other multinational corporations for a temporary tax break on repatriating profits held offshore. Representative Dave Camp, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Senator Orrin Hatch, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, said through aides yesterday that they want to consider the repatriation issue as part of a comprehensive look at rewriting the U.S. tax code.

Skype names new chief financial officer [Reuters]
Internet telephone service Skype said it named Jonathan Chadwick, a former McAfee financial executive, as its chief financial officer. Chadwick replaces Adrian Dillon as CFO. Dillon has left the company, Skype said in a statement.

Big Four clause under the spotlight [Accountancy Age]
Restrictive bank clauses that force businesses to use one of the Big Four auditors are finally coming under public scrutiny. Smaller auditors have widely complained about the restrictive rules, but until now there has debate as to whether they even exist. The Office of Far [sic] trading has been ordered to investigate whether the clauses – typically found in banks’ lending agreements – are stifling competition in the market.

CFOs Exit Restating Companies, Study Finds [CFO]
Restatements of financial reports usually convey bad news about a company to the stock market, and CFOs, as chief stewards of financial reports, tend to like nothing less than bearing such tidings. In fact, when companies restate, their finance chiefs show a pronounced tendency to leave, new research confirms. Usually, however, it’s their own decision to walk — or at least that’s what the companies are reporting.

Three Key Steps for Managing Young CPAs [JofA]
Unless, of course, you’ve already got things completely under control.

The Best Free Small Business Accounting Software [PC Mag]
Free is good.

Ja Rule Pleads Guilty to Tax Charges [AT]
Rap singer Ja Rule has admitted to failing to file tax returns for five years, causing a loss to the government of over $1.1 million.

Divorce Over 50: 3 Mistakes to Avoid [SmartMoney]
Forward it to your boss (or bookmark it for yourself).