Shoe story media missed

[freakyfreaky]

Re: Shoe story media missed

Obama's assault on tax havens causes Lloyds Banking group to dump its U.S. clients banking with it in the UK. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...tax-purge.html

Lloyds Bank hit by Obama tax purge
Banking group drops American customers in UK ahead of costly proposals to stamp out tax evasion

By Louise Armitstead
Published: 9:39PM BST 13 Jun 2009

President Obama is planning a crackdown on tax evasion Lloyds Banking Group is ditching American customers based in Britain pending a crackdown on international tax evasion planned by President Barack Obama.

This week American private client account-holders at Lloyds's received letters informing them of an "important change in policy regarding clients who are resident, domiciled or linked to the United States by property or asset holdings". They were told the bank had "no choice" but to "cease acting as your investment manager."

One letter sent to Bank of Scotland's portfolio management division, which is now part of Lloyds, said: "The USA has a mature regulatory environment governed by its Securities and Exchange Commission. These regulations mean that we are not licensed to manage portfolios for US clients."

The letter added: "Unfortunately we cannot offer an equivalent service from within Lloyds Banking Group." Clients have been advised to transfer their assets.

One recipient, who has lived in the UK for over 25 years, said: "After all this time, I've suddenly been told I must take my money elsewhere and I don't understand why. Now I'm scared that other banks won't take me on either."

In its letters to clients, Lloyds has not referred to specific legislation. But last month, The Sunday Telegraph reported that British banks and stockbrokers were threatening to close down accounts held by American citizens due to concerns over new international tax proposals could make it too expensive for them to service the clients.

The proposals, which were unveiled in the President's first budget, have been designed to clamp down on American tax evaders abroad. But bank bosses say that in practice they could be asked to take on the task of collecting American taxes at a cost and legal liability that make servicing the clients inexpedient. The rules have not yet been finalised and are still subject to debate in Congress.

So far Lloyds has started dropping its "mass affluent" clients who have investment portfolios of up to a few hundred thousand pounds but that its "high-net-worth individuals" are not yet effected.

A source said: "Until the new rules are properly explained, we don't know how expensive they will be to implement. But it's clear that Lloyds believes that any extra cost to the system will be too much when it comes to the mass affluent."

The letters also contained four comprehensive descriptions of the bank's definition of clients that are effected. These included clients that hold green cards, pay American taxes, are American domiciled or even those where there is "any indication" that a client spent more time in the US than "normal holidays currently or in the past or future."

President Obama's proposals are built on the so-called Qualified Intermediary system introduced in 2001 that were intended to ensure Americans paid the correct tax wherever they were domiciled. Under the rules, foreign financial institutions that handle American money have to fill in a US tax form on behalf of the client that has to be audited too.

In return, the banks receive a QI seal of approval as a qualified intermediary. Bank bosses say that under plans to extend the system, which includes paying for the figures to be audited twice, the costs and legal liabilities of the system will soar.

APCIMS, the trade body whose members manage £400bn of Britain's wealth and employ 25,000 people, sent a letter to the US Treasury's Internal Revenue Service (IRS) complaining that the "unfair'' proposals represent "no benefit but . . . significant cost'' to its members.

Last night Lloyds declined to comment.

[freakyfreaky]

Re: Shoe story media missed

Obama's shoes insult Israelis.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2009/06/obama_anti-semi.php

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/06/obamas_shoe_soles_provoke_some.html

Obama's Shoe Soles Provoke Some Israelis

President Barack Obama talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call from the Oval Office, Monday, June 8, 2009 Official White House Photo by Pete Souza


By Frank James

Who knew President Barack Obama's simple habit of throwing his feet up on his desk could lead to an international incident?

On Monday White House photographer Pete Souza snapped a photo of Obama while the president was on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Obama, as he occasionally does, had his feet up on the desk and Souza shot the photo of the president with the soles of Obama's shoes in the foreground. It's a fairly straightforward picture.

But few things involving the Middle East are simple. Some Israeli journalists are stirring the pot by suggesting Obama intended to disrespect Netanyahu and Israel by showing the soles of his shoes.

An excerpt from a piece in the left-leaning Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz.

A photo released by the White House, which shows Obama talking on the phone with Netanyahu on Monday, speaks volumes: The president is seen with his legs up on the table, his face stern and his fist clenched, as though he were dictating to Netanyahu: "Listen up and write 'Palestinian state' a hundred times. That's right, Palestine, with a P." As an enthusiast of Muslim culture, Obama surely knows there is no greater insult in the Middle East than pointing the soles of one's shoes at another person. Indeed, photos of other presidential phone calls depict Obama leaning on his desk, with his feet on the floor.
Meanwhile, CBS News' World Watch blog reported:

Israeli TV newscasters Tuesday night interpreted a photo taken Monday in the Oval Office of President Obama talking on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an "insult" to Israel.
They saw the incident as somewhat akin to an incident last year, when the Iraqi reporter threw a shoe at President Bush in Baghdad.


It is considered an insult in the Arab world to show the sole of your shoe to someone. It is not a xxxish custom necessarily, but Israel feels enough a part of the Middle East after 60 years to be insulted too.


Again, just another example of how even a simple gesture can get twisted by the geopolitical forces of the Middle East.


FLASHBACK

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Re: Shoe story media missed

Subway comes to the rescue of NBC's "Chuck". http://gawker.com/5263174/nbcs-chuck...way-sandwiches

NBC's Chuck Exists Only to Sell Subway Sandwiches
By Hamilton Nolan, 4:33 PM on Wed May 20 2009, 9,053 views (Edit post, Set to draft, Slurp) Copy this whole post to another site

Last month NBC's Chuck had that Subway sandwich product placement that was so laughably flagrant we thought, "This will surely hurt the credibility of NBC's 'Chuck!'" How young and naive we were. Turns out that that Subway deal is literally the only reason that Chuck still exists:

The special sponsorship with Subway is enabling NBC to bring back the series, executives said, in a deal they described as made possible by a decision to go to advertisers earlier than usual in what NBC called the "infront," to ask for ideas about interweaving brands into shows.

You read that correctly: the xxxxing Subway product placement is enabling this show to be on TV, period. All the other stuff in there is just extra low fat mayo. How hardcore is NBC willing to get here? Hardcore to the bone:

"Chuck" appealed to Subway for reasons that included its audience, which is mostly the type of younger consumer that buys a lot of subs at malls. The show takes place in a mall, and Chuck's girlfriend, Sarah, is a C.I.A. agent who works under cover at various stands in the food court.

It is no great leap to believe she could be selling Subway sandwiches next season. An NBC executive said discussions have been under way about the specifics of the tie-in.

We hope you're very happy about the success of your "Buy a Subway Sandwich to Save NBC's 'Chuck!'" campaign now. Sandwich w-hores.
[NYT]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/business/media/20adco.html?_r=1&ref=business

The broadcasters, eager not to be usurped, are busy with their own efforts to entice marketers that include new schedules for CBS and ABC, as well as an innovative deal between NBC and a big advertiser, the Subway chain of sandwich shops, to renew the series “Chuck” for 2009-10.

...

The renewal of “Chuck” for a third season by NBC, part of the NBC Universal division of General Electric, offers another example of how marketers and networks are collaborating in nontraditional fashion.

The special sponsorship with Subway is enabling NBC to bring back the series, executives said, in a deal they described as made possible by a decision to go to advertisers earlier than usual in what NBC called the “infront,” to ask for ideas about interweaving brands into shows.

The partnership was suggested to Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, by Subway executives, who were enthused about the special marketing opportunities the series afforded the chain. Subway sandwiches played a role in an episode of “Chuck” last month, with the “$5 foot-long” Subway slogan as part of the dialogue.

“Chuck” appealed to Subway for reasons that included its audience, which is mostly the type of younger consumer that buys a lot of subs at malls. The show takes place in a mall, and Chuck’s girlfriend, Sarah, is a C.I.A. agent who works under cover at various stands in the food court.

It is no great leap to believe she could be selling Subway sandwiches next season. An NBC executive said discussions have been under way about the specifics of the tie-in. “Chuck” will return at 8 p.m. Mondays, after the network finishes covering the Winter Olympics.

With the fate of “Chuck” in the balance, the show’s fans had waged an aggressive campaign online and through Twitter to save it. Many suggested buying foot-long Subway sandwiches to signal their ardor for the series.

[freakyfreaky]

Re: Shoe story media missed

Setting up an offshore bank account, so easy, a 20 year old intern can do it with nothing more than a phone and an e-mail account. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/0..._n_203008.html

5/04/09 - President Obama pledges to go after tax havens and U.S. corporations and wealthy individuals who use offshore bank accounts and corporations to evade taxes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090504/pl_mcclatchy/3226240_1

Obama calls for crackdown on offshore tax havens
By Margaret Talev, McClatchy Newspapers Margaret Talev, Mcclatchy Newspapers
Mon May 4, 2:41 pm ET

WASHINGTON — Following through on a campaign promise to stop rewarding companies that send jobs and money overseas, President Barack Obama on Monday called for eliminating various loopholes that benefit offshore tax havens and ratcheting up overseas enforcement, which he said could save $210 billion over a decade and encourage more job creation at home.

The proposals, which would require congressional action, enjoy support from some Democratic lawmakers, but they face loud objections from others, including Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky , and from hundreds of the most powerful businesses in the nation, including those that produce technology, pharmaceuticals and food.

Opponents say that Obama's proposals would amount to a tax increase and put them at a disadvantage to foreign rivals who don't face such tax laws in their home countries.

"I want to see our companies remain the most competitive in the world," Obama said in announcing his plans at the White House , flanked by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner . "But the way to make sure that happens is not to reward our companies for moving jobs off our shores or transferring profits to overseas tax havens."

As evidence of the problem, a White House fact sheet noted that:

— The effective U.S. tax rate on U.S. multinational corporations as of 2004, the most recent year for data, was 2.3 percent.

— Eighty-three of the 100 largest U.S. corporations had subsidiaries in tax havens, according to the Government Accountability Office .

— Bermuda , the Netherlands and Ireland — all small, low-tax countries — claimed nearly a third of all foreign profits reported in 2003 by U.S. corporations.

Obama wants to reduce companies' ability to defer taxes on overseas profits, end many overseas tax havens and aggressively hunt down overseas tax evaders.

To do so, he proposes tightening regulations and hiring 800 more Internal Revenue Service agents. In turn, he said he'd pump billions of projected savings into guaranteed funding of a research and experimentation tax credit for companies that invest in jobs in the U.S.

McConnell said Monday that while he supports cracking down on tax evasion and offshore shelters, he doesn't back the overall plan.

"I cannot endorse a plan that gives preferential treatment to foreign companies at the expense of U.S.-based companies and the 52 million people they employ," he said.

Marty Regalia, the chief economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce , said in a statement following Obama's remarks that "when you limit deferral, you limit the ability of U.S. companies to compete, you impede growth in the U.S. economy, and you cause the loss of jobs — both at the companies directly impacted and companies in their supply chains."

In taking on the Chamber, Obama also is taking on big companies, such as Microsoft , DuPont , General Electric and Eli Lilly , among the more than 200 companies and trade associations that have gone on record in opposition to the move since March.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday that "we know we're going to take on some tough interests in that, but the president believes this is a fight we should have and one that we can win." Gibbs said the changes should be seen as a matter of "fairness, not something that will put them at a competitive disadvantage."

Under current law, U.S. companies can defer for years paying taxes on profits if they're putting the money back into offshore subsidiaries. Under Obama's proposal, companies could take deductions for foreign expenses only if they were paying taxes on foreign profits to the U.S.

How companies can take a foreign tax credit also would be tightened, so that the credit reflects how much foreign tax is actually paid and so it can't be used on income that isn't subject to U.S. tax.

Obama would end "check-the-box" rules that allow U.S. companies to set up subsidiaries in tax havens to avoid paying taxes. Going forward, U.S. businesses establishing certain overseas corporations would have to report them on U.S. tax returns.

Obama also would give the IRS more legal authority to get more information from foreign bank account holders in order to determine whether they're attempting to evade U.S. taxes.

In his remarks, Obama criticized "a tax code that says you should pay lower taxes if you create a job in Bangalore, India , than if you create one in Buffalo, N.Y. " He blamed lobbyists for "a broken tax system" and said he is out to change things.

"Nobody likes paying taxes, particularly in times of economic stress," Obama said. However, he said, "most Americans" recognize that "it's an obligation of citizenship, necessary to pay the costs of our common defense and our mutual well-being."

[freakyfreaky]

Re: Shoe story media missed

convicted felon Madoff's Yacht named "Bull" seized today by authorities. Moo!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/01/madoffs-luxury-yacht-bull_n_181814.html

[freakyfreaky]

Re: Shoe story media missed

British PM Gordon Brown expected to demand members assistance in clamping down on offshore tax havens at G-20 summit.


"DETERMINED Gordon Brown will this week demand an international clampdown on offshore tax havens." http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/uk-...8057-21237390/

http://www.royalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d93f3330030000&sectionId=60

[freakyfreaky]

Re: Shoe story media missed

Green things in March.





-----------------------------------------

British PM Gordon Brown speaks before U.S. Congress on March 4, 2009, among other things, he inquired "“How much safer would everybody’s savings be if the whole world finally came together to outlaw shadow banking systems and offshore tax havens?” while suggesting an overhaul of the global banking system after an "economic hurricane."

U.S. Senate Bill S506 in the 2009-2010 Congress. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-506

Before Gale A. Norton, former Attorney General of Colorado, was appointed Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior, she apparently represented an "offshore" bank on its quest to obtain one of the first banking licenses in the U.S. in her home state. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB9917...?mod=googlewsj

"Sprague admitted that he was not surprised that Colorado was able to get a depository open so quickly because the depository, headed by CEO and co-founder Pierre Boisse, has attracted some high profile supporters such as former Colorado attorney general and now U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton." http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/laws/938571-1.html

================================

More Obama shoes.

[freakyfreaky]

Re: Shoe story media missed

'24' goes green.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118000785.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

California woman embezzles $10 million and blows it on shoes.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/mar/07/bn07embezzle-shoes-north-county/

http://laist.com/2009/03/07/socal_woman_squanders_company_cash.php

[freakyfreaky]

Re: Shoe story media missed

Obama's basketball options in the D.C. area.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/story/893674.html

THE WHITE HOUSE
Basketball fan Obama seeks court for pickup games
A known basketball fan, President Barack Obama has lots of courts to pick from in Washington.
BY FRANK GREVE
McClatchy News Service
WASHINGTON -- Now that he's living in the White House, where will President Obama play pickup basketball? Anywhere he wants. But who knew he'd have so many choices?

• Ken Salazar, Obama's interior secretary, wants the president to use the newly refurbished basement court in his department's headquarters. President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved its construction in 1938 on the grounds that the full-size 50- by 94-foot court could, in a capital emergency, be converted into a hospital ward with a very high ceiling.

• The National Basketball Association would build Obama a court on the White House grounds in a heartbeat. ''We've talked to people in his administration, and said we'd help in any way we can,'' NBA spokesman Tim Frank said, ''but that's as far as it's gone.'' In the meantime, the outdoor White House tennis court is being eyed as a possible basketball court.

• Abe Pollin, the owner of the NBA Washington Wizards, has offered Obama the use of his team's home court, the Verizon Center, nine blocks east of the White House. Obama's pickup games probably would fill more of the center's 20,000 seats than the Wizards do, who are vying this season to be the worst in the NBA.

• Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, already has a court. It's used mainly by the Marines and Navy Seabees assigned there to guard and serve presidents. In between, they draw lots of perimeter security duty and play lots of basketball. Obama ends his first official Camp David visit Sunday.

• Members of the House of Representatives and their guests can play on their own court in the sprawling Rayburn House Office Building. Senators don't have a court, but their spa and fitness center is cushier.

• Atop the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, sits an even higher court, although its dimensions are just 39 by 79 feet. Justice Byron White, who died in 2002 at age 84, was the last justice to spend much time on it. A biographer reported that he had infamously sharp elbows.

• If the Secret Service casts the deciding vote, Obama will end up at the Army's Fort Myer Recreation Center in suburban Virginia on the western margin of Arlington Cemetery. It's the easiest court to secure, and it's just 2.9 miles from the White House.

The smart money's on Fort Myer.

All but the Interior's court are free to federal employees. At Interior, the pay-to-play fee comes to $650 a year, roughly on par with the capital's YMCA.

Two realities will bedevil Obama's court appearances almost anywhere he plays, however.

One is traffic. Early in his presidency, George H.W. Bush, who liked to run, thought he'd zip over to Fort McNair, two miles away, to use its track. His two-block entourage so snarled traffic that the elder Bush used a White House treadmill for the rest of his term.

Attorney General Eric Holder, a starter at New York City's Stuyvesant High School, better known for brains than basketball, spoke to the other reality in his Senate confirmation hearing: the possibility that a president won't be guarded all that closely on court.

When Holder was asked whether he'd ''do everything in his power to defeat'' Obama, he confessed: ``I don't think I could beat him, and I don't think it would be a wise thing to do.''

Holder has the wrong idea, responded former NBA player Tom McMillen, who represented eastern Maryland in the House of Representatives for three terms.

''Basketball is a status-blind sport, particularly pickup basketball,'' he said. ``Once you get on the court, you play the same way whether you're playing the president or a guy on the street.''

Copyright 2009 Miami Herald Media Co. All rights reserved

Interior Secretary calls 'next'.

http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/01/23/interior-dept-wants-bball-game-with-white-house/

January 23, 2009
Interior Dept. Wants Bball Game With White House
@ 10:15 am by Walter Alarkon
The new Interior Department is already gearing up to challenge President Obama on one issue — basketball bragging rights.

According to an Interior insider who wrote to TalkingPointsMemo, department employees during a meeting on Thursday discussed forming a basketball team to take on the White House. When seeing his new employees' interest in roundball, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar went further.

"I will say this in public, that we of the Department of the Interior will challenge President Obama and his White House team to a basketball game," Salazar said, according to The Washington Post.

Salazar, however, noted that he has to be careful since he "serves at the pleasure of the president."

Obama and several other members of his Cabinet have the basketball jones. The president played on his state championship high basketball team in Hawaii and he has made it a ritual to play basketball on important election days. Attorney General-designate Eric Holder, Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have all played organized basketball in high school or at higher levels. Duncan actually played professionally in Australia.

Wilderness - "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain"; The Department of the Interior manages areas designated as wilderness by Congress pursuant to the Wilderness Act of 1964. http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/blm...ons.print.html

[freakyfreaky]

Re: Shoe story media missed

he's listed at approximately 6'1. But, at 155 lbs. or so, I bet you he has no low post game.