A decision by banks in Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Monaco to water down the age-old rules of secrecy governing accounts held by foreigners is the reason.
Under pressure from the United States and the European Union, these countries are warning their customers that if they don't declare their bank accounts to the taxman in the countries where they live, they threaten to do it for them. That, or issue a cheque for the amount they hold followed by the closure of their account -- but a cheque is no good for individuals who would have to use it to open another account, thus flagging up to fiscal authorities that which they want to hide in the first place. As a result, people who wouldn't dream of breaking the law in any other respect are now playing a high-stakes game of chance moving their assets in cash.
#2
Of course if you simply buy a large corporation and donate enough money to someone's campaign fund, your movement of your 'corporate' money overseas is OK.
#5
Not a worry--no large sums of money in the Cayman Islands or the various countries listed.
BP, sometime ago, a couple was out walking their dog in California and found $10M in gold coins in a tree trunk. They reported their good fortune. However, they may have to give it to the U.S. Mint as the U.S. Mint said it belongs to them. The U.S. Mint claims it was stolen from them--one of among many theories. Alas. Origins of $10 in gold found in a tree.
[IsraelTimes] More than 620 people from scores of universities have signed an online petition opposing academic boycotts of Israel.
The petition, for professionals working in academia, says the undersigned "vigorously support free speech and free debate but we oppose faculty or student boycotts of Israel's academic institutions, scholars and students."
Launched on September 15, the petition criticizes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, saying it "violates the very principle of academic freedom." It also criticizes the BDS movement for basing its "accusations and narratives" on "overstatements, cherry picked evidence, outright falsehood" or "disputed or highly biased data."
Among the signatories are Alan Dershowitz, an emeritus professor at Harvard Law School; Eric Alterman, a City University of New York journalism professor and columnist for The Nation; Judea Pearl, a UCLA computer science professor and father of slain journalist Daniel Pearl; and Deborah Dash Moore, director of the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan.
Most of the signatories are affiliated with universities in North America and Israel.
A youth was killed by a racist white tiger at the zoo in Delhi on Tuesday afternoon after he jumped or fell into its enclosure, official sources said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Mandeep Singh Randhawa told reporters at the scene that the youth, identified as Maqsood of the Anand Parbhat area in Central Delhi, had entered the zoo as a visitor, after buying an entry ticket.
"He fell into the enclosure or he jumped into it. This is a matter of investigation," he said.
Without video it's going to be hard. Did the tiger spit out the kid's sneakers?
Witnesses told journalists that the tiger kept its distance from the youth, aged about 19 or 20, for several minutes before attacking him and killing him. Some boys watching the unfolding tragedy from outside the enclosure tried to scare the tiger away by throwing stones and making noises, but this appeared to have only made matters worse.
No kidding...
Zoo officials said the incident occurred around 1.30pm and that the youth appeared to have jumped over the iron railings into the enclosure.
According to witnesses, they rushed to the scene after hearing the youth’s screams and found that the tiger had grabbed him by the neck and that he was writhing in pain.
Being grabbed by a racist white tiger by the neck will tend to do that...
Television channels showed pictures of the youth cowering inside the enclosure while the tiger stood a short distance away.
The witnesses said they had called the police and the zoo security personnel, who turned up on the spot quickly but they could not save the youth.
The body of the youth was removed from the enclosure about two hours later, after the tiger was tranquilised, and taken to the Safdarjung Hospital here for a post-mortem examination before it is handed over to his family.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/24/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Indira, please look in the mirror --
Injustice has never been clearer!
Police always make beelines
For one of us felines!"
So hissed the black panther, Bagheera.
#12
It would be in bad taste to employ
A reference to Siegfried and Roy,
And I'm sure those fine men
Would take no interest in
A dead teen-aged Indian boy.
#13
Gee whiz, do you suppose he talks like that all the time? Reminds me of the Star Trek TNG episode where the guy spoke in metaphors. "Darmok and Jalad... at Tanagra." Darmok
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/24/2014 13:10 Comments ||
Top||
[AnNahar] Pro-Russian rebels defiantly announced Tuesday they would stage their own elections in November, raising the stakes in a standoff with Kiev despite both sides moving to end five months of deadly fighting.
The prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, said the eastern separatist region would hold elections to choose a parliament and a leader on November 2.
The chairman of the "Supreme Soviet", or parliament, in the neighboring Lugansk People's Republic, Alexei Karyakin, told the TASS news agency that the region would hold polls on the same day.
Continued on Page 49
Hundreds of Indian and Chinese troops have dug into positions on a high Himalayan plateau, leading India's army chief to cancel a foreign trip and monitor a standoff that underscores deep differences between the Asian giants as they seek closer ties.
Military officials in New Delhi and Kashmir said on Tuesday that Chinese troops set up a camp about 3 km (2 miles) into territory claimed by India in the Chumar region of the Ladakh plateau more than a week ago.
Indian soldiers have set up their own base nearby and have been told not to back down, the officials said.
Asked about the standoff, China's Ministry of Defence said the two sides' understanding of the line of the border was not the same.
"The two countries' border, to this day, has not been designated," the ministry said in a faxed statement, adding that the Chinese military respected pacts signed by both countries.
"Both sides, if problems occur in the border area, can reach an appropriate resolution through dialogue and consultation."
India has deployed about 1,500 troops in the Chumar area and there are about 800 Chinese soldiers, an Indian government official said. The two sides are not in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation and are well separated from each other, he added.
The alleged incursion by Chinese troops into territory claimed by India dominated a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, overshadowing his pledges to invest $20 billion over five years and a bid to warm personal ties with new Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
After a summit between Modi and Xi on Friday, the soldiers pulled back from a face-to-face confrontation to take up more distant positions.
TRIP CANCELLED
India's army chief, General Dalbir Singh, cancelled a three-day visit to neighboring Bhutan on Monday in order to monitor the border situation, a government official in New Delhi said.
Military commanders from both sides were due to hold a meeting in the border area on Tuesday, another official said, in a fourth such gathering to try and resolve the dispute.
[AnNahar] Poland kicks off major military exercises involving eight NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... partners on Wednesday amid the West's worst standoff with Russia since the end of the Cold War sparked by differences over the Ukraine crisis.
Organized every two years since 2006, this year's Anaconda maneuvers involve 12,500 soldiers, with 750 from NATO members the U.S. and Britannia among others, the Polish defense ministry said, adding the event "has become a permanent training element of the North Atlantic alliance".
The exercises are designed to coordinate cooperation with NATO's rapid reaction forces, created at the alliance's Cardiff summit earlier this month.
They also come as the U.S. State Department approved this week the possible sale to Poland of air-to-surface missiles as part of plans to equip and upgrade Warsaw's fleet of F-16s.
Poland has earmarked 33.6 billion euros ($43 billion) to upgrade its military equipment over 10 years, including acquiring a missile shield, armored personnel carriers, submarines and drones.
Amid the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski proposed raising defense spending to 2.0 percent of GDP, from the current 1.95 percent.
Poland, a former Soviet satellite state with a population of 38 million, joined NATO in 1999 a decade after shedding communism. It acceded to the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... in 2004.
Russia's March annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and backing of pro-Russian separatists in that country's east has sparked deep misgivings in Poland and its Baltic NATO partners, also formerly under Moscow's thumb.
U.S. President Barack Obama Dreams of My Sainted Father... visited to the region in early September on the eve of a key NATO summit to offer security guarantees and calm nerves.
While the alliance has agreed to create a rapid reaction force, it stopped short of stationing permanent boots on the ground in Poland and the Baltic states, a move demanded by their leaders but frowned upon by Moscow.
Russia has long objected to NATO's expansion in its Soviet-era back yard and in 1997 NATO formally agreed not to install permanent bases in former Warsaw Pact states.
But on Friday, Lithuania's Defense Minister Jonas Vytautas announced NATO will set up regional "command and control" centers in "four or five countries, namely Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Romania".
Soldiers from Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania and The Netherlands will also take part in the Poland's Anaconda maneuvers that wind down in northern Poland on October 3.
NATO will hold another set of exercises in Poland in October, also involving U.S. and British troops.
NATO member Poland is ready to sell arms to Ukraine if there is demand, Polish Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said on Monday.
“I confirm that the Polish defence industry is interested in this direction,” Siemoniak told private radio station Zet. “There are several products that may be interesting for Ukraine.”
“If only there is a will and a readiness to purchase any elements of armaments in Poland, then Polish factories dream of nothing else but exports,” he also said.
Indian space agency's low-cost mission to Mars successfully entered the red planet's orbit on Wednesday, crowning India as the first country to execute such a project in its maiden attempt. The success of the Mars Orbiter Mission, lauded for its low price tag of $74 million, will boost India's five-decade-old space programme that newly-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to expand with better infrastructure and technology.
[DAWN] Perveen Junejo of the PPP has denied that she willingly resigned as member of the Sindh Assembly and accused her husband of having forced her to sign the resignation paper at gunpoint.
Ms Junejo, who won the PS-76 (Dadu-III) seat in last year's general elections, said she was surprised to see reports on Friday that Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani had accepted her resignation.
She alleged that her husband Aziz Junejo had got her signature on a typed resignation paper at gunpoint in the presence of Faryal Talpur, sister of PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, and MNA Rafique Jamali.
She appealed to PPP Chairman Bilawal Baby Bhutto Zardari ...Pak dynastic politician, son of Benazir Bhutto and grandon of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. As far as is known, Bilawal has no particular talents other than being pretty and being able to memorize political slogans, but he had the good luck to be born into the right family and he hasn't been assassinated yet... and Asif Ali Zardari to take notice of the matter.
Talking to journalists here on Monday, she said she and Aziz Junejo, a former irrigation engineer, had estranged relations for about a year. On Sept 18, according Ms Junejo, her husband called her and asked her to see him at Zardari House in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... . Faryal Talpur and Rafique Jamali were present when she reached there.
She claimed that her husband had got her signature at gunpoint in their presence and asked her to leave the house immediately. He also accused her of having taken money from TMOs, although she was not allowed to visit her constituency during the past year, she added.
Ms Junejo asked how could her resignation be accepted by the speaker without inviting her to confirm it. She threatened to take the matter to court if the party leadership did not provide her justice.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2014 00:00 ||
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[11125 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
A face frowned through the glass at a bright banner waving on a fishing rod below the consulate window. 15 years in an Indonesian jail can be the penalty for flying the Morningstar flag, symbol of the West Papuan independence movement. But Jakarta's little patch of Sydney lay 50 cm away, separated from Australian soil by a stern metal fence. There was nothing they could do. Indonesia HATES anything that smells like one of their islands might become free. The Bali Bombers cited Australia's help in freeing East Timor as one of their motivations. This flag waving under their noses would have infuriated them
A tiny pod of protesters had prisons in mind as they gathered on the Maroubra footpath outside the Indonesian consulate yesterday. They held up candles in glass lanterns for two French journalists who have been trapped in a West Papuan jail for more than 40 days. Depending on how things pan out they could face 20 years behind bars.
Valentine Bourrat, 29, and Thomas Dandois, 40 have little prospect of seeing freedom any time soon unless the Indonesian Government relents and lets them go. The journalists went to the secretive region, annexed by Indonesia in 1969, to make a documentary for Arte TV in France. They wanted to report on the independence movement which began fighting after a disputed vote called the "Act of Free Choice" handed the fertile western half of New Guinea to Jakarta.
Ms Bourrat and Mr Dandois did what others have done before them. They went in on a tourist visa, and they got caught. The usual penalty is to be deported, but Indonesian authorities have instead responded with a severity that has shocked the media industry.
Indonesian police told Fairfax Media reporter Michael Bachelard that the pair were being investigated for criminal subversion after communicating with independence leaders. If they are charged they could face 20 years in prison. The pair could get the maximum five years' jail for the visa breach alone. The Immigration Office in Papua told Fairfax Media that they want the journalists to get the maximum penalty.
In New Zealand a lunchtime vigil was held at the central Auckland city church of St Matthews where Vicar Helen Jacobi prayed for the pair.
A rally was held in Wellington on the steps of Parliament calling on the NZ Government to help the journalists.
In Sydney, supporters held candles at the gates of the Indonesian consulate and gave flowers to passers-by before writing letters of support to send the journalists. More online at VICE Australia
#1
handed the fertile western half of New Guinea to Jakarta. -----
I was under the impression it was all fertile as hell, according to an Uncle the place would really grow on ya.
h/t Instapundit
A study from three sociologists based out of North Carolina State University charges that First Lady Michelle Obama's campaign to promote healthy eating and decrease childhood obesity rates is classist and sexist in its implementation. This is because the model Obama advocates tends to put the onus of preparing healthy meals specifically on women, and also expects a level of disposable income, transportation options, and free time, which low-income families may lack.
Racists!!!
h/t Instapundit
Communists along with a few environmental groups staged a "People's Climate Rally" in Oakland, California on Sunday, September 21, in conjunction with the larger "People's Climate March" in New York City on the same day.
#3
Go outside and take a look at the weather. Fall is in the air. Halloween is just around the corner.
Climate Change? it always was about some people just being stupid. But then some people always ARE stupid.
I live in the North Georgia Mountains. You haven't seen Fall until you see it here. ALL the Seasons are perfect here. You can have Hawaii. Climate Change.....yeah sure.
Posted by: Big Thromoth3646 ||
09/24/2014 5:39 Comments ||
Top||
#6
The self blinding secular religious experience of hate. The little farts ignore that when the 'Wall' collapsed between East and West in the early 90s, it was found the environmental damage in the communist paradises were far more horrible than anything found in the capitalist West.
#7
Oh, they didn't ignore it, they blamed it on us. Because if we hadn't been threatening them with nukes, they wouldn't have felt the need to keep up with us and have to do all those 'bad' things.
#8
P2k, you are quite right but the evidence was there long ago.
I wrote my Senior Poli Sci (mea culpa) paper on environmentalism and the USSR and how the problems could be traced directly to Marxist economics.
In very short, it all came down to the Marxist use of the term "Free Good" and how nothing without human labor could have value. Timber, ore, water, etc. were wasted on a truly colossal scale. Ugly, very ugly.
Yes, way too hot, lots and lots of insects, kudzu, bad drivers, high taxes, and Bible thumping rednecks. Did I mention the heat and humidity? New England really is the place to be.
#11
What annoys me is that most Marxists compare a fantasy capatalism (that is the government infested kind we currently have) with a fantasy Marxism (ours will be nothing like the Soviet Union, ours will be nice) and yet still get away with it because so many people are ignorant.
#12
Beso, yeah but New England has leftist/liberal/Democrats coming out of our ears.
It'd be perfect up here if we could trade a whole lot of ours for, oh I don't know, a couple of good barbecue joints.
As far as drivers go we got GA beat hands down. According to a recent survey the two worst places are both here Worcester (15 miles from me) and Boston.
#13
Got to wonder how many of the environmental enthusiasts Know:
1. What communism is and how many people in the world have been killed as a result of communism?
2. What capitalism is and how many countries and people have been lifted up as the result of capitalism?
3. The lack of science behind global warming (or climate change as it's morphed into) and the mostly hysterical and superstitious aspects behind global warming.
4. The redistribution of income behind global warming--except for the few high priests behind it who have gotten rich like Al Gore.
5. The hypocrisy of the spokespeople behind global warming/climate change who preach its virtues while at the same time burning up carbon fuels like crazy.
#14
They are still running with that 'Climate change is a fact and everyone knows it' line.
Only an idiot would claim that Climate change doesn't happen. just as only an idiot would think that man has any involvement in the climate change. These are the type of people who would believe that if everyone jumped at the same time the earth would move 'down' a litte bit.
They don't state that 'man-made climate change is a fact' - because it isn't.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
