CARIBBEAN-ART-OAS showcasing Caribbean art - by Caribbean News Review

CARIBBEAN-ART-OAS showcasing Caribbean artby Caribbean News Review

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 2:26 PM

Puerto Rico News - Selected Feeds Review

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WASHINGTON, Jun 12, CMC - The Organization of American States (OAS) has launched an exhibition of previously unseen works by Caribbean artists, titled “Groundation – Sources of Caribbean Artistry”.

Puerto Rico Day Parade 2013 part 5 by KenExcellence

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 2:24 PM

Videos Matching: Puerto Rico

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	Puerto Rico Day Parade 2013 part 5  HISTORY The National Puerto Rican Day Parade (NPRDP) takes place annually along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, on the second Sunday in June, in honor of the near...	From: KenExcellence Views: 86      0 ratings
	Time: 01:46	More in Education

Puerto Rico Day Parade 2013 part 6 by KenExcellence

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 2:24 PM

Videos Matching: Puerto Rico News

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	Puerto Rico Day Parade 2013 part 6  HISTORY The National Puerto Rican Day Parade (NPRDP) takes place annually along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, on the second Sunday in June, in honor of the near...	From: KenExcellence Views: 106      0 ratings
	Time: 01:31	More in Education

Not just any jobs, but just jobsby jpicard@thehill.com (Michael Shank and Sabina Dewan)

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 2:23 PM

Congress Blog

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Last week, a high-level panel appointed by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon released its recommendations for a global development agenda when the Millennium Development Goals expire at the end of 2015 and when approximately one billion people will still be living in extreme poverty. 

The panel recognized the tremendous achievement the world has made in lifting 600 million people out of extreme poverty but also warned of rising global inequality. Their number one priority going forward:  Leave no one behind.  This should sound familiar to Washington’s “leave no child behind” agenda.  Hopefully this one will be more successful.

US-bashing TV station gives interview to its benefactor, Vladimir Putin - Christian Science Monitor

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 2:23 PM

Political Status Of Puerto Rico - Google News

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Christian Science Monitor

US-bashing TV station gives interview to its benefactor, Vladimir Putin Christian Science Monitor President Vladimir Putin has given his second exclusive interview in less than a year to the statefunded English-language satellite network Russia Today, which prefers to be called RT, in a clear sign that the Kremlin views the broadcaster as a key ... Putin's Popular Front Should Be EliminatedThe Moscow Times all 281 news articles »

#ArielCastro pleads not guilty in Ohio kidnap case. Read; http://ow.ly/lXu4T #c... by CARIBBEAN BUSINESS

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 2:23 PM

CARIBBEAN BUSINESS's Facebook Wall

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#ArielCastro pleads not guilty in Ohio kidnap case. Read; http://ow.ly/lXu4T #caribbeanbusiness

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Facebook User Comes Out As Gay With 'Closet' Photograph - Huffington Post

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 2:22 PM

Puerto Rican Community In Usa - Google News

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Facebook User Comes Out As Gay With 'Closet' Photograph Huffington Post History was made in October when active professional featherweight boxer <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/04/orlando-cruz-comes-out-gay_n_1939204.html">Orlando Cruz of Puerto Rico came out</a>. He said in a USA Today article, "I've ... and more »

Budget deal cuts back B2B plan, adds ‘state patente’ and hikes corporate

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 2:22 PM

Caribbean Business

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Budget deal cuts back B2B plan, adds ‘state patente’ and hikes corporate rates The administration of Gov. Alejandro García Padilla and leaders of his Popular D ...

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#NSA leaker Snowden says he's not avoiding justice. Read: http://ow.ly/lXLQT #ca... by CARIBBEAN BUSINESS

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 2:22 PM

CARIBBEAN BUSINESS's Facebook Wall

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#NSA leaker Snowden says he's not avoiding justice. Read: http://ow.ly/lXLQT #caribbeanbusiness

Why the temporary foreign worker program still matters to U.S. businesses by jpicard@thehill.com (Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC))

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 2:21 PM

Congress Blog

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As the Senate takes up their immigration reform bill this week, it is near impossible to watch the news, read a newspaper, or peruse the internet without encountering coverage on this politically hot issue.  One of the arguments in the immigration debate is our country’s need for more low-skill workers. Consequently, my House Small Business Subcommittee is holding a hearing today (June 12) to examine the affects seasonal foreign workers have on the U.S. economy and our small businesses.

Under the H-2B visa program, businesses are permitted to bring in temporary foreign workers to fill lesser-skilled, non-agricultural jobs Americans do not want.  Many of our tourism-related businesses rely heavily on this program because it allows them to significantly increase their workforce during their peak seasons.  For decades, and especially during the recent recession, H-2B workers have kept our small businesses competitive and it is crucial that this program is not regulated out of existence.

#US CEOs more optimistic about hiring. Read: http://ow.ly/lXT3K #caribbeanbusinessby CARIBBEAN BUSINESS

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 2:21 PM

CARIBBEAN BUSINESS's Facebook Wall

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#US CEOs more optimistic about hiring. Read: http://ow.ly/lXT3K #caribbeanbusiness

Teaser Trailer For ‘Diana’ Biopic by Kellvin Chavez

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 9:50 AM

Latino-Review.Com

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“Diana” starring Naomi Watts as Princess Diana

The teaser trailer is now online for the upcoming Biopic “Diana” starring Naomi Watts as Princess Diana.

Teaser Trailer For ‘Diana’ Biopic by Kellvin Chavez

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 9:50 AM

Latino-Review.Com

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Russian lawmakers pass anti-gay bill in 436-0 vote - CB

Russian lawmakers pass anti-gay bill in 436-0 vote

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 9:05 AM

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MOSCOW — A bill that stigmatizes gay people and bans giving children any information about homosexuality won overwhelming approval Tuesday in Russia's lower house of parliament.

Hours before the State Duma passed the Kremlin-backed law in a 436-0 vote with one abstention, more than two dozen protesters were attacked by hundreds of anti-gay activists and then detained by police.

The bill banning the "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" still needs to be passed by the appointed upper house and signed into law by President Vladimir Putin, but neither step is in doubt.

The measure is part of an effort to promote traditional Russian values instead of Western liberalism, which the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church see as corrupting Russian youth and contributing to the protests against Putin's rule.

The only parliament member to abstain Tuesday was Ilya Ponomaryov, who has supported anti-Putin protesters despite belonging to a pro-Kremlin party.

A widespread hostility to homosexuality is shared by much of Russia's political and religious elite. Lawmakers have accused gays of decreasing Russia's already low birth rates and said they should be barred from government jobs, undergo forced medical treatment or be exiled.

The State Duma passed another bill on Tuesday that makes offending religious feelings a crime punishable by up to three years in prison. The bill, which passed 308-2, was introduced last year after three members of the Pussy Riot punk group were convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" for an impromptu anti-Putin protest inside Moscow's main cathedral and given two-year sentences.

Before the anti-gay vote, rights activists attempted to hold a "kissing rally" outside the State Duma, located across the street from Red Square in central Moscow, but they were attacked by hundreds of Orthodox Christian activists and members of pro-Kremlin youth groups. The mostly burly young men with closely cropped hair pelted the activists with eggs, shouting obscenities and homophobic slurs at them.

Riot police moved in, detaining more than two dozen protesters, almost all of them gay rights activists. Some who were not detained were beaten by masked men on another central street.

The legislation will impose hefty fines for providing information about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community to minors or holding gay pride rallies. Those breaking the law will be fined up to 5,000 rubles ($156) for an individual and up to 1 million rubles ($31,000) for a company, including media organizations.

Foreign citizens arrested under the new law can be deported or jailed for up to 15 days and then deported. European gay rights activists have joined Russians in trying to hold gay pride rallies in Moscow in recent years.

Russia decriminalized homosexuality in 1993, but anti-gay sentiment remains high. Russia also is considering banning citizens of countries that allow same-sex marriage from adopting Russian children.

Earlier Tuesday, dozens of anti-gay activists picketed the Duma. One of them held a poster that read: "Lawmakers, protect the people from perverts!" while others held Orthodox icons and chanted prayers.

Russian and foreign rights activists have decried the bill as violating basic rights.

"Russia is trying very hard to make discrimination look respectable by calling it 'tradition,' but whatever term is used in the bill, it remains discrimination and a violation of the basic human rights of LGBT people," Graeme Reid, the LGBT rights program director at Human Rights Watch, said Tuesday in a statement.

Lyudmila Alexeyeva, one of Russia's oldest and most prominent rights activists, called the law "a step toward the Middle Ages."

"In normal countries, no one persecutes representatives of sexual minorities," Alexeyeva told the Interfax news agency. "A modern person knows that these people are different from the rest just like a brunette is different from a blonde. They are not guilty of anything."

Russian officials have rejected the criticism. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov defended the bill in February, saying that Russia does not have any international or European commitment to "allow the propaganda of homosexuality."

An executive with a Russian government-run television network said in a nationally televised talk show that gays should be prohibited from donating blood, sperm or organs for transplants, and after their deaths their hearts should be burned or buried.

The bill's adoption comes 20 years after a Stalinist-era law punishing homosexuality with up to five years in prison was removed from Russia's penal code as part of democratic reforms that followed the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Read the whole story

 

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#Russian #lawmakers pass anti-gay bill in 436-0 vote. Read: http://ow.ly/lVI6o... by CARIBBEAN BUSINESS

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 9:00 AM

CARIBBEAN BUSINESS's Facebook Wall

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#Russian #lawmakers pass anti-gay bill in 436-0 vote. Read: http://ow.ly/lVI6o #caribbeanbusiness

Hearing Notes How Companies Used Territory to Avoid Billions in Taxes by Contributing Editor - Puerto Rico Report

Hearing Notes How Companies Used Territory to Avoid Billions in Taxes by Contributing Editor

Wednesday June 12th, 2013 at 8:45 AM

Puerto Rico Report

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The current use of Puerto Rico to avoid billions of dollars in Federal taxes by big businesses based in the States was raised in a recent U.S. Senate hearing on technology giant Apple counting sales and profits generated in the States as income earned abroad.

An expert witness helped explain why the longtime incentive for companies in the States to manufacture in Puerto Rico was phased out from 1996-2005 and proposals to recreate the incentive have been rejected by the Federal government.

The incentive, Internal Revenue Code Section 936, provided a credit equal to the taxes that would be due on income from Puerto Rico from 1976 through 1993. It replaced a total tax exemption on such income that dated to 1921. In 1993, the 936 credit was reduced to 40% of the taxes due. And in 1996, it was phased out, ending by 2006.

Many companies then shifted ownership of their Puerto Rico operations to subsidiaries that they established outside of the States, mostly in foreign tax havens.

Companies do not have to pay income taxes on profits attributed to subsidiaries outside of the States until they receive the funds. Many keep much of the money in the subsidiaries indefinitely.

The second in a series of hearings on “Offshore Profit Shifting and the U.S. Tax Code” held by the Homeland Security and Government Operations Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations used the case of Apple to illustrate the tax avoidance.

In Apple’s case, Puerto Rico was not used. But Chairman Carl Levin (D-Michigan) used the example of another technology giant to explain the similar Puerto Rico tax avoidance technique:

“Microsoft USA … ‘sold’ some of its intellectual property rights to a foreign corporation it controlled in Puerto Rico. Microsoft USA then immediately bought back the distribution rights in the United States. Why? Because under the distribution agreement, Microsoft USA paid Microsoft Puerto Rico a certain percentage of the sales revenues it received from selling Microsoft products in the United States.”

Levin, brother of the senior Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives committee with jurisdiction over taxes, then laid out the benefit to Microsoft of “this corporate sleight of hand.” In 2011, he noted, it “enabled Microsoft USA to shift 47 cents of every dollar in U.S. sales, totaling $6 billion, to its Puerto Rican subsidiary, dodging payment of U.S. taxes on nearly half of its U.S. sales income.”

“During the three years examined by the Subcommittee,” he went on, “by routing its sales activity through Puerto Rico, Microsoft saved over $4.5 billion in taxes on goods sold right here in the United States.”

Many companies manufacturing in Puerto Rico use the Microsoft tax avoidance strategy. They transfer the valuable exclusive rights to make a product and move brand names to a subsidiary manufacturing in the territory and then pay no tax on the profits unless they take the earnings from the subsidiary.

Sometimes the earnings are even deposited in financial institutions and instruments in the States — but no tax is due because the money is still ‘owned’ by the subsidiary.

And many of these subsidiaries are set up in foreign tax havens instead of in Puerto Rico to avoid Puerto Rico taxation and escape audits by the Internal Revenue Service.

An invited witness at the hearing, former Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary for International Tax Affairs in the Obama Administration and International Tax Counsel in the Reagan Administration, Stephen Shay pointed out how big the problem was in the case of companies claiming the Section 936 tax credit. “By the Tax Reform Act of 1986,” he recalled, “it became clear that international transfer pricing was a substantial issue, particularly in relation to the territorial system adopted in Code Section 936 for Puerto Rico.”

The purpose of Section 936 in 1976 had been to encourage job-creating investments in Puerto Rico by manufacturers in the States. But the Internal Revenue Service soon found out from tax filings that, by transferring to Puerto Rico the patents and trademarks developed in the States that account for most of the profits on products such as pharmaceuticals, companies were reaping tax savings much greater than their payroll costs in the territory.

This made the tax loss cost per job created many times the amount of salaries. So, in the 1986 tax reform, the Reagan Administration proposed replacing the tax credit based merely on income attributed to Puerto Rico with a credit for wages.

The proposal was dropped in the 1986 reform legislation, but President Clinton revived it in his 1993 economic package. As it passed into law that year, the credit equal to all tax due on earnings attributed to Puerto Rico was reduced from 100% to 40% and a Federally-preferred alternative credit for real economic activity and benefits in Puerto Rico was created. The real economic activity consisted of wages, investments in plants and equipment, and local tax payments.

The alternative credit was based on the model of Empowerment Zones, tax benefits for investing in undeveloped communities in the States, but it was more generous to businesses in Puerto Rico.

In 1995, a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives, led by Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich – now the Governor of Ohio, however, proposed phasing out Section 936 by 2006. He complained that it was “corporate welfare.”

In many cases, tax savings were still much larger than island payrolls in the case of the credit reducing taxes by 40%. This was the part of Section 936 used most by companies in preference to the alternative credit for spending in Puerto Rico’s economy.

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