                      These nice phots were sent to me by an email. I don't know who took these photos. If they are yours and you want them removed send me an email and I will do so promptly. |
7/10/2014
Pictures of the Day
7/08/2014
Walgreens to Move To Switzerland
Move to Switzerland to dodge IRS may give Walgreen blues
If Walgreen wants to save a mountain on taxes by moving to Switzerland, it had better get ready for an avalanche of criticism.
The drugstore giant could save $4 billion in federal taxes over the next five years by reincorporating in Switzerland, according to a report to be released Wednesday.
The artful tax dodge has been advocated by a cadre of shareholders, including billionaire Barry Rosenstein, who this spring shelled out $147 million for a Hamptons beach house, the highest-ever price tag for a private US residence.
But the move could also cause a major public-relations headache for Walgreen, according to the study compiled by Americans for Tax Fairness, a Washington think tank.
That’s because Walgreen gets nearly a quarter of its revenue from US taxpayer-funded Medicare and Medicaid programs, the report calculates — not to mention millions in federally subsidized bonuses enjoyed by top Walgreen execs.
“Many Americans will find it unfair and deeply unpatriotic if the company moves offshore, while continuing to make its money here, leaving the rest of us to pick up the tab for its tax avoidance,” said Frank Clemente, executive director of the think tank.
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Lousy deal. And of course part of it is they are leaving Illinois, a grossly mismanaged State with a high tax rate.
Seems to me that a consumer boycott is in order. It won't be any big problem for me to take my business to the other drug stores.
The Feds actually have all kinds of leverage on Walgreens. If you want to play political hardball, don't let Walgreen's service Medicare or Medicaid accounts, which is a huge part of their business. The Feds recently took Tri Care - the military health insurance - out of Walgreens.
Sounds like
Sounds like
Eight Year Old Immigrant
A Border Patrol agent reads the birth certificate of Alejandro, 8 -- the only thing he brought with him as he and others crossed the Rio Grande near McAllen recently. Alejandro is one of more than 52,000 minors traveling without parents who've been caught crossing the border illegally since October.
Seventy-five years ago, the St. Louis, a German trans-Atlantic liner carrying 938 Jewish refugees, was turned away from the United States and forced to return to Europe. U.S. law didn’t allow them sanctuary.
Writes author and former Dallas Morning News reporter Christine Wicker: "The St. Louis is famous now as a failure of compassion that haunts American history. Today we are preparing to send 45,000 children back to Central American countries controlled by drug cartels that routinely torture, rape and kill children who refuse to work for them. So routinely are children menaced that their families sent them away, alone, across thousands of miles on just the slimmest of hopes that they might be safe. U.S. law doesn’t allow them sanctuary.
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Comments by readers
"They walked through some of the most hostile, hot, barren, dangerous country in the world. They were sent by poor families so terrified for their safety that they paid many thousands of dollars and entrusted their children to criminals hoping they might arrive in America and be safe.
"Our hearts are not touched by these children. We want the law enforced. This is our country. Ours. And we don’t have to share it. Not now. Not 75 years ago.
"Yes, these are children whom we’ll send back to be raped, maimed and killed. They aren’t our children. Our children are precious."
Read more and share your thoughts: http://d-news.co/yCC21 (Photo: Jennifer Whitney/New York Times).
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A tough no win situation. Damned if you let them in the country and damned if you don't. If you let all these kids in then many more will be sent. Then you can decide if you want to let them in. And if you send them back you are not compassionate. And of course you are often not sure where back is.
7/07/2014
Why Every City Needs a Labyrinth
Why Every City Needs a Labyrinth
The architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group built a giant maze in Washington, D.C. Cities everywhere should get one.
This is a project at D.C.'s National Building Museum, a summer folly designed by the always-entertaining Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group, a plywood playground where kids will snap selfies all season long.
7/06/2014
The White House is Emailing Me - a Good Thing
 | Sunday, July 06, 2014 | ||
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7/04/2014
Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado
It's now been six months since Colorado enacted its historic marijuana legalization policy, and two big things have already happened:
1. Colorado's cash crop is turning out to be even more profitable than the state could have hoped.
Image credit: Tri Vo
In March alone, taxed and legal recreational marijuana sales generated nearly $19 million, up from $14 million in February. The state has garnered more than $10 million in taxes from retail sales in the first four months — money that will go to public schools and infrastructure, as well as for youth educational campaigns about substance use.
According to his latest budget proposal, Gov. John Hickenlooper expects a healthy $1 billion in marijuana sales over the next fiscal year. That's nearly $134 million in tax revenue. Sales from recreational shops are expected to hit $600 million, which is a more than 50% increase over what was originally expected.
2. Denver crime rates have suddenly fallen.
Image credit: Tri Vo
Marijuana-related arrests, which make up 50% of all drug-related crimes, have plummeted in Colorado, freeing up law enforcement to focus on other criminal activity. By removing marijuana penalties, the state saved somewhere between $12 million and $40 million in 2012, according to the Colorado Center on Law and Policy.
7/01/2014
Happy 4th of July !
Search Results
Happy 4th of July !
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