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Monday, May 20, 2013

15 Super Weird Taxes - Huffington Post

* 8,000 households paid more in tax than they earned
* Data show impact of Socialists' one-off levy
PARIS, May 18 (Reuters) - More than 8,000 French households' tax bills topped 100 percent of their income last year, the business newspaper Les Echos reported on Saturday, citing Finance Ministry data.
The newspaper said that the exceptionally high level of taxation was due to a one-off levy last year on 2011 incomes for households with assets of more than 1.3 million euros ($1.67 million).
President Francois Hollande's Socialist government imposed the tax surcharge last year, shortly after taking office, to offset the impact of a rebate scheme created by its conservative predecessor to cap an individual's overall taxation at 50 percent of income.
The government has been forced to redraft a proposed bill to levy a temporary 75 percent tax on earnings over 1 million euros, which had been one of Hollande's campaign pledges.
The Constitutional Council has judged such a high rate of taxation to be unfair, leaving the government to rehash it to hit companies rather than individuals.
Since then, a top administrative court has determined that a marginal tax rate higher than 66.66 percent on a single household risked being considered as confiscatory by the council.
Les Echos reported that nearly 12,000 households paid taxes last year worth more than 75 percent of their 2011 revenues due to the exceptional levy. ($1 = 0.7798 euros) (Reporting by Leigh Thomas, Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/18/france-taxes-wealthy-more-income_n_3299102.html

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Hard-line Afghan MPs block law protecting women

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Conservative religious lawmakers in Afghanistan blocked a law on Saturday that aims to protect women's freedoms, with some arguing that parts of it violate Islamic principles or encourage women to have sex outside of marriage.

The failure highlights how tenuous women's rights remain a dozen years after the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime, whose strict interpretation of Islam kept Afghan women virtual prisoners in their homes.

Khalil Ahmad Shaheedzada, a conservative lawmaker for Herat province, said the legislation was withdrawn shortly after being introduced in parliament because of fierce opposition from religious parties who said parts of the law are un-Islamic.

"Whatever is against Islamic law, we don't even need to speak about it," Shaheedzada said.

The Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women has actually been in effect since 2009 by presidential decree. It is being brought before parliament now because lawmaker Fawzia Kofi, a women's rights activist, wants to cement it with a parliamentary vote to prevent its reversal by any future president who might be tempted to repeal it to satisfy hard-line religious parties.

Among the law's provisions are criminalizing child marriage and banning "baad," the traditional practice of selling and buying women to settle disputes. It also criminalizes domestic violence and specifies that rape victims should not face criminal charges for fornication or adultery.

"We want to change this decree as a law and get the vote of parliamentarian for this law," said Kofi, who is herself running for president in next year's elections. "Unfortunately, there were some conservative elements who are opposing this law. What I am disappointed at is because there were also women who were opposing this law."

Afghanistan's parliament has more than 60 female lawmakers, mostly due to constitutional provisions reserving certain seats for women.

The child marriage ban and the idea of protecting female rape victims from prosecution were particularly heated subjects in Saturday's parliamentary debate, said Nasirullah Sadiqizada Neli, a conservative lawmaker from Daykundi province.

Neli suggested that removing the custom ? common in Afghanistan ? of prosecuting raped women for adultery would lead to social chaos, with women freely engaging in extramarital sex safe in the knowledge they could claim rape if caught.

Lawmaker Shaheedzada also claimed that the law might encourage promiscuity among girls and women, saying it reflected Western values not applicable in Afghanistan.

"Even now in Afghanistan, women are running from their husbands. Girls are running from home," Shaheedzada said. "Such laws give them these ideas."

Freedoms for women are one of the most visible ? and symbolic ? changes in Afghanistan since 2001 U.S.-led campaign that toppled the Taliban regime. Aside from their support for al-Qaida leaders, the Taliban are probably most notorious for their harsh treatment of women under their severe interpretation of Islamic law.

For five years, the regime banned women from working and going to school, or even leaving home without a male relative. In public, all women were forced wear a head-to-toe burqa veil, which covers even the face with a mesh panel. Violators were publicly flogged or executed. Freeing women from such draconian laws lent a moral air to the Afghan war.

Since then, women's freedoms have improved vastly, but Afghanistan remains a deeply conservative culture, especially in rural areas.

___

Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez contributed in Kabul.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hard-line-afghan-mps-block-law-protecting-women-101713292.html

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IRS scandal becomes Republican battering ram against Obamacare

Republicans lawmakers say the scandal over Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of conservative groups raises new doubts about President Obama?s health-insurance reform law.

By Mark Trumbull,?Staff writer / May 18, 2013

Republicans are hoping the furor over federal tax enforcers singling out conservative groups will ensnare their biggest target: President Barack Obama?s health care law. ?Now we?ve learned that the IRS, which is tasked with enforcing this very unpopular bill of Obamacare, the IRS admitted they targeted Americans,? Rep. Michele Bachmann said during floor debate this week on repealing the health care law.

Molly Riley/AP

Enlarge

Now playing in a political theater near you: The IRS scandal meets Obamacare.

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Republicans in Congress are saying that the scandal over Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of tea party and other conservative groups raises new doubts about President Obama?s health-insurance reform law.

The reason is that the health care law gives the IRS an important role in things like administering tax credits, verifying whether people are eligible for subsidies, and checking whether citizens have complied with a new mandate to carry insurance or pay a fine.

?The power in our health care system should belong to patients and their families, not politicians ? and certainly not the tax man,? Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland said Saturday in the Republican Party?s weekly radio address.??Americans should be able to choose the coverage they need at a cost they can afford.?

This battle over Obamacare, officially known as the Affordable Care Act, is not new. House Republicans voted just this week to repeal it ? their 37^th?such vote since its 2010 passage. Their criticisms have long included worries about an expansion of IRS power and overreach.

But the latest controversy about the IRS comes as the Obama administration is in a difficult home stretch of implementing the health law?s biggest elements ? notably ensuring that health insurance ?exchanges? exist in each state for Americans to use in sign-ups that begin later this year.

Even Democrats acknowledge that the administrative task is daunting. Republicans are painting the implementation as a tangle of bureaucracy that?s impeding job creation.

Congressman Harris introduced his brief address by saying that he was standing next to ?Red Tape Tower,? some 20,000 pages of regulations tied to Obamacare.?Then he brought up the role the IRS will play in implementation and enforcement of the act?s provisions.?
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?If we?ve learned anything this week, it?s that the IRS needs less power, not more,? said Harris. He added: ?It turns out that the IRS official who oversaw the operation that?s under scrutiny for targeting conservatives is now in charge of the IRS?s Obamacare office.?You can?t make this stuff up.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/JnuPf8BzRoY/IRS-scandal-becomes-Republican-battering-ram-against-Obamacare

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Denmark's de Forest wins Eurovision song contest

Emmelie de Forest of Denmark performs her song Only Teardrops during the final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden, Saturday, May 18, 2013. The contest is run by European television broadcasters with the event being held in Sweden as they won the competition in 2012. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Winner of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest Emmelie de Forest of Denmark who sang Only Teardrops, celebrates with the trophy after the final at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden, Saturday, May 18, 2013. The contest is run by European television broadcasters with the event being held in Sweden as they won the competition in 2012. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

MALMO, Sweden (AP) ? Denmark's Emmelie de Forest has won this year's Eurovision Song Contest with her ethno-inspired flute and drum tune "Only Teardrops," despite tough competition from spectacular stage shows by performers from Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

Juries and television viewers across Europe awarded the barefoot, hippie-chic 20-year-old for the catchy love song that is driven by her deep, Shakira-like voice. She received a total of 281 points in the glitzy music battle, which also featured a bizarre opera pop number from Romania, the comeback of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" star Bonnie Tyler and an Armenian rock song written by the guitarist of Black Sabbath.

"It was overwhelming and I could really feel the fans and the audience and the people in the arena," de Forest told reporters after the winners were announced early Sunday.

"Of course I believed in the song and I thought we had a great song, but that's the exciting thing with Eurovision, you never know what's going to happen," she added.

De Forest grew up in northern Denmark and has been singing since she was 14, touring around Denmark with the Scottish musician Fraser Neill. She said it is important to be persistent to succeed as a young musician.

"I just called and emailed like a lot of festivals, music places and a lot of times I got no, but you just have to believe in yourself and keep trying, trying, trying ? be outgoing and talk to new people, just call them and don't be afraid," she said.

De Forest was followed by second-place winner Farid Mammadov of Azerbaijan, who got 234 points for the song "Hold Me," which he performed on top of a glass cubicle containing a male dancer. The Ukraine's Zlata Ognevich and her song "Gravity" finished third with 214 points.

Ognevich was carried onstage in Saturday night's finals by the tallest man in the U.S. ? Ukrainian-born Igor Vovkovinskiy. Vovkovinskiy ? who stands 7 feet, 8 inches (234 centimeters) ? wobbled onstage in a fur and feathers, placing the fairy-like Ognevich on a rock where she stood for the rest of the performance.

The televised extravaganza, with an audience of 125 million worldwide, is now in its 58th year. Once again without fail, it produced a mix of bubble-gum pop songs, somber ballads, bagpipes, accordions and bizarrely kitsch musical productions.

In an opening video, soccer great Zlatan Ibrahimovic welcomed the viewers to the competition in his hometown Malmo, in southern Sweden. The Nordic country hosted the event because its contestant Loreen won last year with "Euphoria."

This year's event also saw the return to the international stage of two seasoned European stars. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" singer Bonnie Tyler represented Britain with the sleepy love ballad "Believe In Me," while Anouk, whose song "Nobody's Wife" was a big hit in Europe in the 1990s, performed the song "Birds" for The Netherlands. Tyler ended in 19th place, while Anouk finished in the 9th spot.

Finland's Krista Siegfrid provided this year's controversy, ending her bouncy pop number "Marry Me" with a girl-on-girl kiss that some interpreted as a stance promoting gay marriage. While it did not raise eyebrows in most parts of Western Europe ? where Eurovision has long been a bastion of gay culture ? the act jarred sensitivities in parts of eastern and southern Europe. Her cheesy tune didn't win the hearts of Europeans, however, and she ended up third to last with only 13 points.

Romanian opera singer Cezar gave one of the more remarkable performances. He resembled a Dracula reborn as a high-pitched vocalist, attempting a crossover opera pop number with techno beats and pyrotechnics that landed him in 13th place. Three muscular male dancers in red body paint were delivered out of a large red cape.

Two semifinals this week had whittled down the contestants from 40 to 26. The voting is shared equally between professional juries in all participating countries and viewers using their telephones to pick their favorites.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who watched the competition in Malmo Saturday, called it a unique event that unites Europe.

"We see the old Yugoslavia, now independent states, after a decade of war they always vote for each other in Eurovision, " Bildt told The Associated Press. "That I think is fun."

Having won five times, most famously with ABBA's Waterloo in 1974, Sweden is a veteran of Eurovision. It took the opportunity on Saturday to showcase some of its big music acts. At the opening of the competition, contestants marched into the stadium with flags, Olympics-style, accompanied by a choir singing a song especially composed by Swedish super DJ Avicii and ABBA members Bjorn Ulveaus and Benny Andersson. While contestants waited for the votes to come through, Swedish singer Sarah Dawn Finer sang ABBA's hit tune "The Winner Takes It All."

Yet the event ? with a price tag of around 153.5 million Swedish kronor ($23 million) ? didn't measure up to last year's lavish competition hosted by oil-rich Azerbaijan in its capital, Baku.

"We have attempted to host Eurovision with less money to show that it is possible to do this without it being too painful for the host country," said Jan-Erik Westman, a spokesman for host broadcaster SVT.

The festive atmosphere was visible throughout the city of Malmo on Saturday, where residents and visitors blended on the sunny streets waving the flags of their favorite countries.

___

Associated Press television producer David MacDougall and Associated Press reporter Jan Olsen contributed to this report.

___

Follow Malin Rising on Twitter: https://twitter.com/malinrising

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-05-18-EU-Sweden-Eurovision/id-76f94e5ce7e74d548bbc3a511192bc40

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Dollar soars, stocks gain amid talk of Fed QE exit

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets rose and the dollar soared against a basket of currencies on Friday, reaching a nearly three-year peak, as speculation mounted over whether the Federal Reserve would soon begin to rein in its asset-buying program.

Wall Street opened higher, with the benchmark S&P 500 rebounding from its worst decline in nearly three weeks, following gains in European shares that were lifted by carmakers cheered on by signs of a revival in domestic sales.

Also lifting stocks was a survey that showed a rebound in U.S. consumer sentiment in early May to the highest level in nearly six years as Americans felt better about their financial and economic prospects, particularly among upper income households.

The dollar's strength was largely attributed to the euro, which fell to a six-week low on market talk that the European Central Bank could introduce negative deposit rates, a move that would make banks pay to park their cash overnight with the ECB.

The dollar index <.dxy>, which measures its value against a basket of six major currencies, rose to 84.312, its highest in nearly three years. It last traded at 84.262, up 0.81 percent on the day.

The euro fell 0.55 percent to $1.2810, while the dollar hit a 4-1/2 year high versus the Japanese yen, up 0.55 percent at 102.80.

"People are positive about the U.S. economic recovery despite recent weak data and today's theme is mostly about the broadly strong dollar," said Charles St-Arnaud, FX strategist at Nomura Securities.

"Meanwhile, data in the euro zone shows they remain in a recession and raised expectations the ECB will take further action is weighing on the euro," he said.

A measure of global equity activity, MSCI's all-country world stock index <.miwd00000pus>, rose 0.05 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 66.70 points, or 0.44 percent, at 15,299.92. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 9.98 points, or 0.60 percent, at 1,660.45. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 19.64 points, or 0.57 percent, at 3,484.89.

European shares <.fteu3> bounced off session lows to rise 0.23 percent to 1,248.30.

Gold fell for a seventh straight session, its longest losing streak in four years, driven by speculation the Fed may soon ease its asset-purchase program to boost the economy.

Spot gold prices fell $16.49 to $1,369.20 an ounce.

Comments on Thursday from John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, that the Fed could begin easing up on stimulus this summer stirred speculation.

Prices for U.S. Treasuries added to losses after the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment rose to 83.7 in early May from 76.4 last month, topping economists' expectations for 78.

It was the highest level since July 2007.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down 11/32 in price to yield 1.9175 percent.

In Europe, German Bunds hit one-week highs, with traders citing talk the ECB was checking with some banks on whether they were ready for a potential cut in its deposit rate to below zero.

German Bund futures rose as much as 43 ticks on the day to 145.74, before paring gains to trade 9 ticks higher.

Oil climbed towards $105 a barrel, rebounding from an earlier decline and heading for a small weekly gain, although concern about the strength of demand growth limited the rise.

Brent crude rose 78 cents to $104.56 a barrel. U.S. crude future added 68 cents to $95.84.

(Additional reporting by David Brett in London, Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dollar-firmer-fed-remarks-asian-shares-mixed-043219740.html

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Watchdog group wants IRS to target all groups that hide donors (Washington Bureau)

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Wolfson WM5110 audio chip outputs 'studio master' sound, may appear in next Galaxy S (ears-on)

What you're looking at above is a demo board carrying a next-gen Wolfson WM5110 audio chip for smartphones. This bit of silicon isn't in any market-ready handsets just yet, hence the DIY setup, but given Wolfson's well-cemented partnership with Samsung there's every chance this'll be the audio hub in the next Galaxy S, as well as potentially in other manufacturers' phones coming out in 2014.

One of the WM5110's headline features is the ability to handle high sample rate music tracks at 24-bit and 192KHz, aka "studio master" or "better than CD quality" sound. Such skills are generally reserved for pricey standalone DACs like iRiver's AK100, which allows Wolfson to claim that this is the first implementation for inside a smartphone. We have an ears-on video for you after the break, but it's not much use for judging audio quality -- the event was too noisy even for us to attempt that, so we'll just wait to do another audio round-up in more controlled conditions -- but at least there's some proof of principle. On the other hand, if you're unconvinced as to whether 192KHz is even a worthwhile spec to have in smartphones, then read on to learn about some of the WM5110's other abilities, which have a more practical bent.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Mobile