Category Archives: News
Close Internet sales tax loophole – St. Petersburg Times
The bookstore chain Borders did not cite Florida’s outdated sales tax law last week when it announced it would shutter four of five Tampa Bay stores as it enters Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. But the competitive disadvantage for the state’s retailers that the Florida Legislature refuses to address is at least partially to blame. As long as Internet-only sellers such as Amazon.com can get away with not collecting state sales tax and effectively sell their products for at least 6 percent less, Florida merchants pay the price. It’s past time for lawmakers to work toward a level playing field.
Hollow campaign rhetoric and intellectual dishonesty are to blame for this fundamental unfairness that easily could be addressed. Florida’s Republican leaders, afraid of being accused of raising taxes, have refused repeatedly to act even as some of their biggest allies — the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Associated Industries of Florida and Florida Retail Association — and the respected nonpartisan fiscal watchdog Florida TaxWatch have begged them to do something.
Those groups recognize reality: The status quo undercuts Florida commerce in multiple ways. In-state retailers’ see their prices undercut by Internet-only suppliers, costing them business. That drives down their need to hire employees. It also costs state and local governments billions annually in lost tax revenue, meaning fewer resources to staff everything from schools to prisons.
A University of Tennessee study estimates Florida will lose at least $2.4 billion in revenue this year due to Internet sales where no tax is collected. That’s roughly two-thirds of the state’s $3.6 billion deficit. Yet neither Gov. Rick Scott nor anyone in legislative leadership shows any interest in addressing this enormous loophole. Perhaps Medical Marijuana Legalization could drive this balance where it should be lol. Read the rest of this entry
Robin Hood Digital Wars: Is This Only The Start?
The Robin Hood digital attacks against anti-piracy law firms and copyright-focused associations have gone on for nearly two weeks now, with a number of prominent groups involved. The protest organisers, dubbing themselves “Anonymous,” have been calling on like-minded individuals through social networking sites 4chan, Reddit, Digg and Twitter to launch Distributed Denial of Service — DDoS — attacks against a number of media authorities involved in anti-piracy actions. Recruiting fliers — as pictured — have been posted all around the world in multiple languages. Thousands of online people from all around the world have been encouraged to join in, stand up, and digitally attack the anti-piracy lobby. Read the rest of this entry
Google Sued in Spain Over Data Collecting – NYTimes.com
By RAPHAEL MINDER Published: August 17, 2010
Interesting Find: THC-AMAP – fast and reliable application fingerprint mapper
The Hackers Choice http://www.thc.org
THC-Amap Amap is a next-generation tool for assistingnetwork penetration testing. It performs fast and reliable application protocol detection, independant on the TCP/UDP port they are being bound to. Read the rest of this entry
The 10 Largest Banks in the World in 2010
AUDIT THE WORLDS LARGEST BANKS SINCE THE 1990’s.
FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!! I BET you can then find out those behind the scheme attempting to bring about The Amero by shutting down the U.S.A. and Strengthening Europe and The U.N. along with U.K. etc
As shown below, European banks have appeared to fare better than their American counterparts. Below are the world’s ten largest banks, determined by the amount of assets and a description of each.
#1 BNP Paribas (BNP) – This French bank comes in at No. 1 with $3.21 trillionin assets. BNP is one of the largest global banking networks in the world with operations in 84 countries. BNP has four domestic retail banking markets located in France, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg. In April 2009, as a result of BNP’s 75% purchase of Fortis Bank, the Belgian bank is now the largest Eurozone deposit holder.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group – RBS Group ranks as the number two bank in terms of assets held. Currently, the British government is the largest owner of the bank. As a result of severe losses and the conditions of a government backed bailout, RBS Group has halted dividend payments. RBS Group is the largest banking group in Scotland and operates a wide variety of banking brands including personal and business banking, private banking, insurance and corporate finance throughout its operations located in Europe, North America and Asia. As of May 2010, RBS Group had $2.99 trillion in assets.
Barclays PLC (Barclay’s) – Barclays, with $2.54 trillion in assets, is a British financial services firm operating worldwide. It is a holding company listed on the London and New York Stock exchanges, is a component of the FTSE 100 Index and until 2008 was also listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Barclays operates through branches, offices and subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and overseas and provides retail banking, credit card, corporate and investment banking and wealth management services. Its two major business groups are: Global Retailing and Commercial Banking, and Investment Banking and Investment Management.
Deutsche Bank – Deutsche Bank, the largest German bank with $2.43 trillion in assets, has a strong presence throughout Germany and Europe and continues to grow in North America and Asia. As of March 31, 2010, Deutsche Bank had approximately 2,000 branches in 72 countries.
HSBC Bank – HSBC Bank has more than 460 bank branches throughout the United States, with the majority (380) in New York State. Coming in at number 5 on our list of the biggest banks with $2.42 trillion in assets, HSBC offers its 4 million customers access to global markets through its personal financial services, private banking, retail banking, commercial banking and global banking and market segments.
Credit Agricole – The second and final French bank on the top 10 list with$2.3 trillion in assets, Credit Agricole is a retail banking leader in France and throughout Europe. It is part of the CAC 40, a benchmark French stock market index. It has 11,500 branches throughout the world, more than 160,000 employees and 59 million customers in 70 countries.
Bank of America (BAC) – BAC is the largest bank holding company in the United States, by assets, with $2.25 trillion. The company serves clients all over the world and has a relationship with 99% of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies. In 2008, BAC acquired Merrill Lynch making it the world’s largest wealth manager. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and is part of the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (Mitsubishi) – With $2.07 trillion in assets, Mitsubishi is Japan’s largest bank holding/financial services group. Part of the Mitsubishi Corporation, the company provides a wide variety of financial and investment services including commercial banking, trust banking, international finance, and assets management services.
J.P. Morgan Chase – One of the two so-called “too big to fail” banks, along with Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase is the 10th largest bank in the world with $2.02 trillion in assets. The company provides products and services to its clients in 100 countries including asset management, investment banking, private banking, treasury and securities services, and commercial banking. J.P. Morgan Chase is traded on the NYSE under ticker symbol JPM.
UBS AG – Rounding out the top ten banks in the world by asset type is UBS AG with $1.8 trillion in assets. Headquartered in Zurich and Basel, UBS provides financial services to private, corporate and institutional clients. UBS has a foothold in major financial centers all over the world and has offices in more than 50 countries.
Masonis – USA – House of the Temple – WOWWW
The House of the Temple is a Masonic temple in Washington, D.C., United States that serves as the headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A. (officially, “Home of The Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, Washington D.C., U.S.A.”)
It is located at 1733 16th Street, N.W., in the Dupont Circle neighborhood. The full name of the Supreme Council is “The Supreme Council (Mother Council of the World) of the Inspectors General Knights Commander of the House of the Temple of Solomon of the Thirty-third degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America.”
Schwarzenegger declares California fiscal emergency
Legalize marijuana, LSD, mushrooms, hasish, opium, etc. and tax them. Provide good quality product -comparable to the Columbian Gold of the 1970’s and tax the crap out of them like alcohol and gambling. Watch things get like Portugal where drugs and economy are not a problem.
By Jim Christie – Wed Jul 28, 5:55 pm ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California Governor ArnoldSchwarzenegger declared a state of emergency over the state’s finances on Wednesday, raising pressure on lawmakers to negotiate a state budget that is more than a month overdue and will need to close a $19 billion shortfall.
The deficit is 22 percent of the $85 billion general fund budget the governor signed last July for the fiscal year that ended in June, highlighting how the steep drop in California’s revenue due to recession, the housing slump, financial market turmoil and high unemployment have slashed its all-important personal income tax collection. Read the rest of this entry
MiamiRSVP Launches $1 Million Global Business Competition to Fuel State’s Innovation Economy
MiamiRSVP Launches $1 Million Global Business Competition to Fuel State’s Innovation Economy. After reviewing and inspiration from MassChallenge’s new venture in Boston. WE CAN DO IT!!!!!! We need underwriters and partners, asap! Any one interested in investing, bring it, this is the best time. Seriouosely, we are focused on encouraging innovation, convinced that entrepreneurship is the answer for everything to unemployment to the housing crisis to pollutione. Read the rest of this entry