America's corporate tax rate iѕ 35 percent, уеt somehow, 115 companies оn thе S&P500 pay lеѕѕ thаn 20 percent in taxes. Thiѕ number dоеѕ nоt еvеn include 37 companies, ѕuсh аѕ Citigroup аnd AIG, thаt received mоrе in tax credits thаn thеу paid.
Evеrу year thе government loses оut оn оvеr $60 billion a year in money thаt dоеѕn't соmе in frоm American corporationsbесаuѕе оf loopholes in thе immensely complicated tax code оr vаriоuѕ tax havens.
Thiѕ iѕ nоt a nеw trend. In fact, thе 80s аnd 90s featured аn еѕресiаllу high number оf corporations moving thеir money tо places ѕuсh аѕ Bermuda аnd thе Cayman Islands, whеrе thеrе аrе nо taxes аt all. Mоrе recently, a number оf companies hаvе moved funds tо Switzerland, in раrtiсulаr tо a small town in thе Alps called Zug. Zug's taxes аrе ѕоmеwhеrе bеtwееn 15 аnd 16 percent, making thеm substantially lеѕѕ thаn thоѕе charged in thе United States.
Transocean, thе Texas company thаt owned thе BP rig involved in thе Gulf oil spill lаѕt year, moved itѕ operations tо Switzerland twо years ago. Thоugh thеу kерt аrоund 1,300 оf thеir employees in Houston аnd moved оnlу 12 оr 13 tо Switzerland, thеу аrе аblе tо register аѕ a Swiss company, thеrеbу saving $2 billion in taxes. Undеr bоth Swiss аnd US tax law, thiѕ iѕ perfectly legal behavior.
Faced with juѕt thе mеrе threat оf Doggett's legislation, Transocean moved аll оf itѕ top management tо Switzerland. Thе company's top tеn executives nоw аll live in Geneva.
However, mаnу corporations аnd thеir allies blame thе existing tax structure fоr thе habits оf thеѕе companies. Thеѕе individuals argue thаt thе problem lies with thе excessive rates оf tax in thе United States, whiсh аll but force companies tо move thеir operations overseas.
We have seem the virtual reality television shows , now welcome the Digital Ads of the future reality show. Trade groups say that many many consumers do want to see commercials that they can immures themselves into – only if they are done correctly.
Seems that Lexus is one of the front runners in this new age of Virtual ads: “Lexus used the magic of virtual reality to transport visitors to the Canadian Autoshow into cars they selected from the models on show.Interactive agency Globacoreshows how they delivered an immersive VR brand experience with Oculus Rift”. Yet other seem to think that this technical reality advertising will only be a niche offering and nothing more.
I personally like the futures idea of marketing and look forward to its berth.
Here is a short video clip below you might find interesting.
76-year-old military veteran killed himself outside a Long Island Veteran Affairs facility Sunday after being denied treatment. He was reportedly seeking help for mental health issues at the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center but was turned away, an unfortunately common experience plaguing veterans seeking healthcare in recent years.
According to the New York Times, two people connected to the hospital spoke about the incident on the condition of anonymity. They explained “he had been frustrated that he was unable to see an emergency-room physician for reasons related to his mental health,” the Times reported.
“He went to the E.R. and was denied service,” one anonymous source said. “And then he went to his car and shot himself.”
Peter A. Kaisen of Islip, New York, committed suicide in the parking lot of the Northport facility, where he had been a patient. He was in the parking lot outside Building 92, the facility’s nursing home, when he shot himself.
One of the Times’ anonymous sources questioned why Kaisen had not been referred to Building 64, the mental health center at Northport. “The staff member said that while there was normally no psychologist at the ready in the E.R., one was always on call, and that the mental health building was open ‘24/7,’” the Times reported.
“Someone dropped the ball. They should not have turned him away,” the source said. Christopher Goodman, a spokesman for the hospital, said there “was no indication that he presented to the E.R. prior to the incident,” and the Times was unable to determine whether there was an official record of his visit to the VA on Sunday.
The Northport center has faced heightened scrutiny since the Times reported on mismanagement at the facility in 2014, but the problems at Northport are problems of the entire system.
Just last month, an Iowa military veteran suffering from PTSD and substance abuse killed himself after being denied treatment by the VA. He reportedly made an appointment seeking treatment but eventually posted on social media that he was turned away “even though he requested it and explained to a doctor that he felt his safety and health were in jeopardy,”KWQC, a local news outlet reported.
One veteran who drove to a Seattle VA last year with a broken foot was denied assistance walking from his car to the hospital entrance, a distance of a few feet. He was told to call 911, instead. One gun-wielding veteran with PTSD was shot and killed by police in Maricopa County, Arizona, last year after he was turned away from the VA hospital when he sought treatment for a mental health emergency. He had routinely called suicide hotlines for help but never received the full attention he needed.
Veteran suicides in the United States are a chronic problem. Though some argue the relatively recent figure from the VA that 22 veterans kill themselves per day is inflated, veterans still face a suicide risk higher than the rest of the American population. As USA Today has noted:
“In 2014, veterans accounted for 18% of all suicides in the United States, but made up only 8.5% of the population. In 2010, veterans accounted for 22% of U.S. suicides and 9.7% of the population.” Further, a more recent analysis by the VA found that in 2014, 20 veterans killed themselves per day. Politifact, an independent fact-checker, has confirmed this figure. While rates of veteran suicides appear to be declining, the figures are still troubling.
Even absent mental health issues like depression and PTSD, veterans are dying waiting for regular health care.A VA whistleblower revealed last year that 238,000 out of 847,000 veterans died after submitting requests for treatment they never received. An audit in 2014 found 57,000 veterans were waiting more than 90 days for an appointment with the VA.
The United States government, politicians, and the media often express compassion and gratitude for veterans.To their credit, some lawmakers recently attempted to allow veterans to use cannabis as an alternative treatment in an amendment to a budget bill — a move Congress ultimately blocked.
But in spite of failed and often unwieldy efforts to reform veterans’ health care, the VA’s systemic failures continue to leave veterans feeling ignored and abandoned by the very institutions that still claim to value them.
On Iran’s nuclear ambitions, some have suggested an approach which mirrors our policy vis-a-vis N. Korea. In other words, if they really insist on the need for a peaceful nuclear infrastructure, then the world should help them build nuclear power plants which do not produce the kind of nuclear byproduct which can be used to produce nuclear weapons. The trouble is N. Korea and Iran clearly have ambitions of possessing nuclear weapons. In fact, most experts believe Pyongyang already has several such weapons in its inventory. This approach, nonetheless, may be worth pursuing with Iran – if only to call Tehran’s bluff. So far, however, the U.S. and Europeans continue to pursue this issue in the UN context.
In this regard, many experts believe this close collaboration to steer Iran away from its nuclear weapons program may pay off. The following Feb. 24, 2004 article from the International Herald Tribune lays out this argument well and succinctly:
Early next month, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of directors will once again meet to consider how to respond to new evidence that Iran has continued to hide significant elements of its nuclear program. Although the board may agree to refer the issue to the UN Security Council, the United States and Europe still differ on how best to respond to Tehran’s continuing violation of its nonproliferation obligations.
The trans-Atlantic partners urgently need to coalesce around a long-term strategy for confronting Iran. Such agreement is needed to effectively deter Iranian violations and to keep the prospect of a diplomatic resolution open.
It is needed for a second reason too: This dispute has all the makings of repeating the disastrous fissures that developed over Iraq, except this time Britain appears to be siding with its European partners against the United States. That would be tragic for many reasons, not least because in this particular case there is absolutely no difference between the two sides on the ultimate objective.
Everyone, Europe and the United States as well as Australia, Canada, Japan and even Russia, knows that the consequences of Iran becoming a nuclear power are exceedingly grave.
WASHINGTON — The American constitution states that the U.S. president must be a natural born American, be at least 35 years old, and have lived in the country for at least 14 years.
Presidential hopefuls typically come from America’s two biggest political parties, the Democrats and Republicans. There are also candidates from other parties or those who run as independents. However, the last victorious independent candidate was George Washington in 1792.
The last time an independent made a significant impact was in 1992 when tycoon Ross Perot took 18.9% of the votes. Then Democratic candidate Bill Clinton was the ultimate winner, knocking out the incumbent, Republican George Bush Senior..
Parties usually choose their nominees based on who ‘wins’ the most states in caucuses and primaries. In a caucus, a preferred nominee is decided through public debate and show of support, while at primaries, a preferred nominee is chosen through secret ballot.
Each party’s presidential nominee is officially announced in the summer at national conventions, where the winners also choose their vice presidential candidate. Next, everyone hits the campaign trail.
Candidates will focus particularly on ‘swing states’, places with a history of voting for different parties and ‘swinging’ results. Campaigning continues until election day, which is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Unlike most democracies, the U.S. candidate with the most general votes does not necessarily become president. It is the candidate with the most votes from the electoral college that wins.
Each state has a number of electors equal to their Congressional representation ie 435 representatives and 100 senators, with 3 electors from the District of Columbia. To win, candidates need 270 of the 538 electors.
That winner is then usually announced on election night and inaugurated in January as the next president of the United States. —————————————-———————
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Everyone should have a summer home. In fact everyone should have a $600,000 summer home on Lake Champlain. Anything else would be unfair.
(From The Independent Journal)
The Burlington resident last week plopped down nearly $600,000 on a camp in North Hero.
Sanders’ new waterfront crib has four bedrooms and 500 feet of Lake Champlain beachfront on the east side of the island — facing Vermont, not New York. The Bern will keep his home in Burlington and use the new camp seasonally.
Last month the Board of Trustees for Social Security wrote in its annual report on the program that the major parts of the greatest Ponzi scheme in the history of the world have run out of money and the rest of Social Security will be completely broke in a few years.
The state propaganda ministry dutifully reported these findings, with CNNMoney claiming that, “If lawmakers don’t act, Social Security’s trust fund will be tapped out in about 18 years.”
That doesn’t mean retirees will get nothing by 2034, the writer tells us. It just means that at that point the program will only have enough revenue coming in to pay 79 percent of the promised benefits. So if you are expecting to receive $2,000 per month from Social Security, you will only receive $1,580.
The controversial professor at ultra-liberal Oberlin College who sparked a national outcry after posting anti-Semitic rants and 9/11 conspiracy theories has been booted from the classroom, the school said Wednesday.
Joy Karega, an associate professor of rhetoric and composition, was put on paid leave while prestigious Oberlin College considers her future, according to a statement from university president Martin Krislov obtained by The Post.
“I am committed to continuing and completing an equitable review process,” Krislov wrote in an email to students, staff and alumni.
“While the process is pending, Professor Karega is on paid leave and will not be teaching at Oberlin. Arrangements are being made to cover her teaching and advising responsibilities.”
“In recognition of the sensitivity of this continuing review process and the privacy of the individuals involved, we will have no other comment until the conclusion of the process,” Krislov said.
Karega has made a string of weird claims on her social media, such as:
Last year, she posted a video of Louis Farrakhan explaining how Israeli forces rigged the Twin Towers with explosives which really brought down buildings. Karega wrote: “Farrakhan is truth-telling in this video.”
ISIS is a CIA and Mossad creation so “Israeli and Zionists Jews” could carry out new 9/11-style attacks.
Following the Charlie Hebdo attacks, Karega said the killings were secretly planned by Jews as punishment against France for being too supportive of Palestinians. “This ain’t even hard. They unleashed Mossad in France and it’s clear why.”
Marijuana’s Long Term Effects On The Brain Finally Revealed
With a drug war against marijuana still raging in more countries than not, the question of how long-term marijuana use effects the human brain is a pivotal question in its legalization. Although alcohol remains legal despiteheaps of evidence to the dangers of long-term use, the fight to make marijuana available both with regard to its medical properties (especially in selectively killing cancer cells) and non-medical uses has frequently hinged on the various claims made about marijuana’s effects on the recreational user.
Steven Senne/Associated Press On Friday, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady announced on his Facebook page that he would “no longer proceed with the legal process” of battling his Deflategate…
WAR ON THE STREETS OF AMERICA: PROTESTERS ATTACK POLICE OFFICERS IN MAJOR CITIES ALL OVER THE NATION
This is what a nation looks like when it starts melting down from within. A series of very disturbing incidents of police brutality against young black males has caused a firestorm to erupt all across the country. You would have thought that the massacre of police in Dallas would have caused everyone to step back and reflect on what is really causing this cycle of violence, but instead the nationwide protests have gotten even bigger and more intense. Over the weekend, protesters attacked police with rocks, bricks, bottles, fireworks, chunks of concrete, Molotov cocktails and rebar from a construction site. In return, police fired pepper spray, smoke bombs and tear gas at protesters. As I write this, more than 200 protestershave been arrested over the weekend so far, and authorities are bracing for what the coming night will bring.
For so long, I have been specifically warning that this kind of civil unrest was coming, but I truly wish that it would have turned out that I was wrong. As a nation, we need to learn to love one another no matter what we look like or where we are from, but instead a cycle of violence has begun that is going to be very hard to break.
On Saturday night, there was horrible violence against police in St. Paul, Minnesota. That is where my father was originally from, and I remember visiting my grandmother in St. Paul many times. Back in those days, I never would have imagined that someday we would see this kind of violence against law enforcement officers in the city…
At least five officers were injured by protesters — one hit with a glass bottle and anotherby fireworks, according to St. Paul police. One was hit on the head with a large piece of concrete, possibly dropped from a bridge, according to police.
Another officer had been hit in the head with a rock, though it is unclear the extent of the injuries. Police say a Molotov cocktail was thrown at officers.
Law enforcement used crowd-control measures, including smoke and fired marking rounds similar to paintball rounds, said police spokesman Steve Linders.
According to another report, protesters “were dropping 10lb concrete blocks on officers’ heads, throwing bricks at their heads and genitals, and lobbing Molotov cocktails.”
There is absolutely no excuse for attacking police officers in this manner.
None whatsoever.
I want to share with you a series of tweets that were sent out by the St. Paul police during the attacks…
“Person with laser sight pointing it at officers. Fireworks being fired at officers by protesters. #I94closed”
“Officer injured by fireworks thrown by protesters. #I94closed”
-In Baton Rouge, a police officer “had several of his teeth knocked out” after being hit by a projectile thrown by protesters. But it could have been a lot worse. According to the Daily Mail, law enforcement authorities confiscated “three rifles, three shotguns and two pistols” from the rioters.
-In Phoenix, protesters launched rocks and projectiles at police and many of them reportedly shouted “We should shoot you!”
-In San Antonio, someone fired “multiple gunshots” at the San Antonio Police headquarters building on Saturday night…
Multiple gunshots were fired at the San Antonio Police headquarters building Saturday night, and police are seeking a suspect who was seen running from the area, SAPD Chief William McManus said.
The shots were fired just before 10 p.m. Saturday. There were no reports of injuries, but bullet marks were found on the exterior wall of the building, McManus said. Shell casings were discovered in a nearby alley.
The mainstream media would have us believe that the shooter in Dallas was a lone nut that acted alone, and that his behavior was not part of a larger trend. But they completely ignored another mass shooting motivated by hate that occurred just hours before the shootings in Dallas…
Hours before a black Army veteran shot 12 officers at a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas, another former Army soldier was accused of shooting indiscriminately at passing cars and police on a Tennessee highway.
And like the Dallas sniper, Lakeem Keon Scott said he was motivated to act in response to police violence against African-Americans, authorities said Friday.
One woman died and three others, including a police officer, were wounded Thursday morning in the Tennessee rampage, one of several spasms of violence across the country this week amid boiling tensions over policing and race.
And the incident in Dallas could have turned out to be far worse. According to authorities in Dallas, Micah Johnson was found to have had bomb making materials in his home and “was planning a larger attack”…
The gunman who killed five cops in Dallas was planning a larger attack but launched his assault early because the protest was too good an opportunity to miss, a police source said.
Veteran Micah Johnson went on the rampage with an AR-15 assault rifle and handgun on Thursday night, but left explosive material at home.
A law enforcement source told WFAA that Johnson was ‘planning something bigger’ but cut preparations short because he knew scores of police officers would man the Black Lives Matter protest.
At times like this, we desperately need strong leaders to step forward and calm everyone down. Unfortunately, the great leaders of the past are long gone, and they have been replaced by politicians that are trying to figure out how they can best use this unrest for their own political advantage.
Instead of hating one another, we need to start loving one another. Without love, our nation is going to die.
I wish that everyone in the country could be made to understand this, but unfortunately most Americans have chosen a different path, and now we will suffer the consequences.
Last month the Board of Trustees for Social Security wrote in its 
