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Monday, March 31, 2014

Cat- bulldozing the U.S. Taxpayers

Report: Caterpillar avoided $2.4B in U.S. taxes: "Construction machinery giant Caterpillar avoided $2.4 billion in U.S. taxes by negotiating a corporate deal with Switzerland and shifting profits to a wholly owned Swiss subsidiary, according to a Senate report issued Monday.

The Peoria, Ill.-based company eased the tax bite through an agreement that transferred its international parts-distribution division to the subsidiary, the report by the staff of the Democratic majority of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations showed.

Despite the $8 billion profit shift, no Caterpillar personnel or business activities moved from the U.S. to Switzerland, and most of the firm's parts business remains in the U.S., said the report, issued as Americans prepare for the annual April 15 tax-filing deadline."



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Friday, March 28, 2014

$$ - from the public tax coffers to Kevin Spacey and Reed Hastings, via Netflix

Spacey Urges House of Cards Tax Break With Real Lawmakers - Bloomberg: "Almost every state provides tax breaks and other incentives to attract movie and TV production companies, which bring in money that trickles down to set designers, caterers and extras. In Maryland, the pending bill would boost funds available for the tax credit to $18.5 million from $7.5 million for the budget year that starts July 2014.

“House of Cards” is the biggest beneficiary of the credit, according to state data, and stands to receive the largest share of the additional $11 million. The state Senate has approved the increase; the measure will be the focus of a state House of Delegates committee hearing on April 2.

The credit would defray some of the $175 million that the show has spent or plans to spend in the state after filming three seasons of the program, according to the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development."



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Thursday, March 20, 2014

Sell and Collect: the Extraordinary gross-ness of being

Time Warner Cable CEO Due $80 Million as Deal Ends Short Tenure - Bloomberg: "Just months into his job as head of Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC), Rob Marcus is set to receive a severance payment of $79.9 million in cash, equity and benefits because he’s selling the company to Comcast Corp. (CMCSA)"



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Sunday, March 16, 2014

Coffee: the brain drink?

Coffee Fuels Drive for Drugs for Parkinson’s to Dementia - Bloomberg: "Emboldened by these findings, some companies have been designing drugs to replicate those benefits. The most advanced research has been in Parkinson’s. At least one drugmaker, Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., won Japanese approval last year for such a product and then began U.S. tests. The challenge is to go beyond the buzz of a vanilla latte to achieve a more powerful effect on the brain -- without side effects like headaches, irritability and jitters.

“Caffeine has a major benefit for cognition,” said Jiang-Fan Chen, a professor of neurology and pharmacology at the Boston University School of Medicine. “More and more people believe this is a real serious potential benefit that we should explore.”

Caffeine, found naturally in more than 60 plants, enters the brain quickly once consumed. There, it latches onto cells at the same sites that interact with adenosine, a chemical that acts as a braking system on the brain. By blocking those sites and thwarting adenosine, it creates the jolt of clarity that makes coffee one of the world’s most popular beverages."



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Friday, March 14, 2014

What's in a name? Plenty, for the Kingdom

Saudi Arabia bans 50 names including 'Rama' for 'conflicting with kingdom's culture' - The Times of India: "LONDON: Saudi Arabia's interior ministry has banned 50 names they argue contradict the culture or religion of the Kingdom, according to reports by local media.

Parents in the kingdom will reportedly no longer be able to call their children by names such as Linda, Alice, Elaine or Binyamin (Arabic for Benjamin) after the civil affairs department at the ministry issued a list of the prohibited names.

Binyamin is believed in Islam to be the son of Prophet Jacob, but is also the name of the current Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Some names on the list are allegedly banned by the interior ministry because they are considered "blasphemous," non-Arabic or non-Islamic, or contradictory to the kingdom's culture or religion, Gulf News has reported."



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Thursday, March 13, 2014

OH-free Paddy Day

An alcohol-free Paddy’s Day? Seriously? - People | Popular Stories, Obituaries & More | The Irish Times - Fri, Mar 14, 2014: "There have been rumblings recently of a rebellion against the booze machine. Last year, Arthur’s Day came under fire from people who saw it as a corporate-sponsored bingefest and last month, RTÉ broadcaster John Creedon sent out a rallying-tweet: “NEK Nominations, Arthur’s Day, Messy Monday, 12 Pubs. Now dreading our national holiday? Fight back. Join me in an alcohol-free St.Patrick’s Day.”"



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Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Rx'd - ADHD

Surge in women taking drugs for ADHD - Newsday: "The number of Americans taking attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medicines rose 36 percent in 2012 from 2008, led by a surge among women, according to drug-benefits manager Express Scripts Holding Co.
Use of the medications grew 85 percent in 2012 from 2008 for women ages 26 to 34, and women 19 and over now outnumber men in use of the medicines, according to the report released yesterday. Boys 12 to 18 years old are the most heavily prescribed, with about 9.3 percent on ADHD drugs in 2012.
Almost 4.8 million privately insured people were on ADHD medicines in 2012, the report said. Those with the disorder have problems paying attention, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says."



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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

AbenoMi(c)sery

Misery Index Rising to 33-Year High on Abenomics: Japan Credit - Bloomberg: "Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks set to drive an indicator of economic hardship to a 33-year high by increasing taxes and prices amid stagnant wages.

The misery index, which adds the jobless rate to the level of inflation, will climb to 7 percentage points in the three months starting April 1 when Japan raises its sales levy to 8 percent from 5 percent, based on the median estimates of economists in Bloomberg News surveys of unemployment and consumer prices. That would be the highest level for the measure since June 1981 when Japan was emerging out of depression after the oil shocks in the 1970s.

Bank of Japan monetary stimulus designed to spur economic growth and achieve 2 percent inflation has weakened the yen by 6.8 percent in the past 12 months, eroding the value of wages to a record low. "



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Monday, March 10, 2014

Worth a lot of Jack- Union Jack

BBC News - New Zealand to hold referendum on national flag: "New Zealand is to hold a referendum on whether to change the national flag, Prime Minister John Key has announced.

Mr Key, who on Monday called an election for 20 September, said the vote would be held within three years.

The current flag shows the Southern Cross constellation and includes the Union Jack - the UK's national flag - in one corner.

Mr Key said the flag represented a period of history from which New Zealand had moved on.

"It's my belief... that the design of the New Zealand flag symbolises a colonial and post-colonial era whose time has passed," he said in a speech at Victoria University.

"The flag remains dominated by the Union Jack in a way that we ourselves are no longer dominated by the United Kingdom."

"I am proposing that we take one more step in the evolution of modern New Zealand by acknowledging our independence through a new flag.""



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Worth a lot of Jack- Union Jack

BBC News - New Zealand to hold referendum on national flag: "New Zealand is to hold a referendum on whether to change the national flag, Prime Minister John Key has announced.

Mr Key, who on Monday called an election for 20 September, said the vote would be held within three years.

The current flag shows the Southern Cross constellation and includes the Union Jack - the UK's national flag - in one corner.

Mr Key said the flag represented a period of history from which New Zealand had moved on.

"It's my belief... that the design of the New Zealand flag symbolises a colonial and post-colonial era whose time has passed," he said in a speech at Victoria University.

"The flag remains dominated by the Union Jack in a way that we ourselves are no longer dominated by the United Kingdom."

"I am proposing that we take one more step in the evolution of modern New Zealand by acknowledging our independence through a new flag.""



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Sunday, March 09, 2014

California - a tale of two demographics

California Beats U.S. in Millionaires, Food-Stamp Users - Bloomberg: "California Governor Jerry Brown, who decries a widening gulf between rich and poor, is campaigning for a fourth and final term presiding over a state that’s outpacing the U.S. in producing both millionaires and food-stamp recipients.

The number of households with more than $1 million in assets gained 3.6 percent since the Democrat took office in 2011, compared with 3.5 percent nationally, according to Phoenix Marketing International’s Global Wealth Monitor. Food-stamp use rose 18.2 percent in the period, almost twice the nation’s 9.4 percent, U.S. Agriculture Department data show."



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Saturday, March 08, 2014

Cracks in the 747 story

Editing lapse: Dreamliner is not 747



Boeing discovers ‘hair-line cracks’ in the wings of Dreamliners; Will it fly? | The State Column: "The Boeing Company announced Friday (March 7) that it found “hairline cracks” in the wings of some 40 of its 747 Dreamliners currently in production. The company said similar cracks have not been seen in airplanes currently in use.

Boeing, based in Chicago, said its plan to deliver 110 Dreamliners this year has not changed, according to Reuters."



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Thursday, March 06, 2014

Apple: Not illegal, but mighty crooked to avoid paying fair share of taxes

Apple paid €36m tax on $7.11bn profits at Irish unit - Economic News | Ireland & World Economy Headlines |The Irish Times - Fri, Mar 07, 2014: "Detailed figures have emerged to
illustrate how Apple has managed to pay almost no corporation tax for years on billions of dollars of revenue earned in other countries, using unlimited Irish entities.
According to accounts obtained by The Irish Times for one of those unlimited companies, Apple Sales International (ASI), the consumer electronics giant cut its Irish tax bill by more than €850 million between 2004 and 2008, using an unexplained “lower rate”.
ASI provides “sales and marketing services” to Apple subsidiaries around the world that sell iPods and iPads. Between 2004 and 2008, it reported profits before tax totalling $7.11 billion on sales of more than $29 billion."



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Wednesday, March 05, 2014

A country of High Standards? or Sigh (at) Standards? $500K Bonus for this?

RadioShack to Pay CEO $500,000 Retention Bonus as Sales Plunge - Bloomberg: "RadioShack Corp. (RSH), which announced plans yesterday to shut 1,100 stores after a plunge in sales, agreed to pay its top executives retention bonuses, saying their skills are critical to the company’s comeback plan.

Chief Executive Officer Joe Magnacca will get a $500,000 payment, while other executives will receive $187,500 to $275,000, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company said today in a filing. Magnacca also will be eligible for a bonus of as much as $600,000 next year if he meets performance targets."



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Tuesday, March 04, 2014

Yoga May Help Breast Cancer Patients During Radiation Therapy – WebMD

Yoga May Help Breast Cancer Patients During Radiation Therapy – WebMD: "TUESDAY, March 4, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Women with breast cancer who practiced yoga had lower levels of stress hormones and reported less fatigue and better quality of life, new research shows.

"Yoga is having an impact on subjective well-being, as well as better regulation of cortisol, a stress hormone," said study co-author Lorenzo Cohen, director of the integrative medicine program at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston. "Better regulation of stress hormones has been linked with better survival and longer survival."

The study is published in the March 3 online edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Other research has found yoga helpful for cancer patients, Cohen said, but some of those studies have looked at small numbers of patients and others have not compared the yoga group to a "control" group to measure results."



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Monday, March 03, 2014

Hepatitis Drugs Billionaire Profits

Gilead CEO Becomes Billionaire on $84,000 Hepatitis Drug - Bloomberg: "John C. Martin, the chief executive officer of Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD), has become a billionaire on the prospects of a powerful new hepatitis C drug that’s attracting scrutiny from payers and activists over its $1,000 per pill price tag.

Gilead’s drug, Sovaldi, was approved in December, and is among the first of a new wave of hepatitis C treatments that can cure the liver disease faster and more reliably than previous drugs. Sovaldi, which costs $84,000 for a 12-week course of treatment, is expected to produce $4.2 billion in revenue this year, rising to $8.1 billion in 2015, according to the average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg."



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Sunday, March 02, 2014

A cold draft in Hot Hell- Bank Overdraft fees

There’s a Spot in Hell Reserved for Bank Overdraft Fees - Bloomberg: "But, it turns out, too many people are too optimistic. Overdrafts are inevitable because of how close to the edge many Americans’ finances are. One study of 7,500 bank customers found that 72 percent of checking accounts drop below $100 in any given month. More than 36 million checking accounts get overdrawn each year, and 8 million account holders do so more than six times a year, according to the Center for Responsible Lending.

Despite their fragile finances, consumers don't read the fine print or do the math that could save them from those charges. Many customers don't know that unless they give their express consent, banks are required to deny debit and ATM transactions that would trigger an overdraft fee. They may not even remember agreeing to get overdraft protection. Thanks to banks’ marketing campaigns, it can sound like the responsible thing to do -- it’s protection."



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