by: Conde’ Nast Traveler

I’m sitting here at the Condé Nast Traveler Travel Specialists Summit with Patrice Salezze of Papavero Villa Rentals (one of our top travel specialists). Her area of travel expertise is Rome, so we were just discussing the news that the central bank of Italy has blocked the Vatican City’s ability to accept credit cards or debit cards because of some questions about the holy city’s compliance with anti-money-laundering controls. The ban went into effect January 1 (happy new year, tourists!), but still hasn’t been fixed. So in the meantime, if you’re waiting in line for, say, the Vatican Museum, make sure you have cash on hand. Of course, the Vatican is scrambling to get this fixed and shake off doubts about its financial transparency. Maybe a higher power can help with this one? What do you think of the news—were the banks right to cut off the Vatican?

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Indefensible-romney bs

01/09/2013 Nativegrl77

By ThinkProgress War Room

The Mitt Romney Loophole

The basic principle underlying progressive taxation is that, generally speaking, the more you make, the higher your tax rate. The fiscal cliff deal passed last week made the tax code more progressive in one way by raising income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans, but unfortunately there remain numerous egregious examples of how our tax code is rigged in favor of the privileged few at the expense of middle-class workers.

Exhibit A in this rigged game is what we’ll call the Mitt Romney Loophole, a special giveaway that exclusively benefits private equity and hedge fund managers. In wonk speak, it’s called the “carried interest” loophole. We’ll let our Center for American Progress colleagues explain:

The carried interest loophole allows people who manage investment funds—such as private equity funds and hedge funds—to convert their income into lower-taxed capital gains.

Here’s how it works: The partners in businesses that manage pools of money on behalf of investors are paid in two ways. One part of their income is a “management fee” for managing the investments. This fee is generally taxed as ordinary income, according to progressive tax rates that currently top out at 39.6 percent. The other part of the fund managers’ income is their cut of the fund’s profits. The fund managers treat their part of the fund’s earnings as a capital gain, subject only to a top rate of 20 percent.

Investment managers, who include some of the world’s richest people, typically take a management fee equal to just 2 percent of the assets they manage—plus a 20 percent cut of their investors’ profits. In doing so, they are able to shield the bulk of their income from ordinary tax rates.

(You can find a more detailed explanation HERE.)

Lower tax rates on capital gains and dividends already disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans, but the Mitt Romney Loophole goes above and beyond that by allowing a narrow category of often extremely wealthy individuals to unfairly avoid paying their fair share.

This loophole is one of the main reasons that Mitt Romney paid a tax rate of just 13.9 percent on income of more than $20 MILLION. Meanwhile, millions of middle-class workers pay a much higher rate on their much, much lower salaries.

Closing this loophole would not only make our tax code fairer and more progressive, it would help raise the revenue that we need in order to protect vital programs and leave room in the budget for investments to grow the middle class. Closing just this one loophole that often benefits the ultra-wealthy would raise $21 BILLION over ten years.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed

Since 2011, 3/4 of deficit reduction has been spending cuts.

2012 was officially the warmest year on record.

Americans prefer cockroaches, root canals, Nickelback to Congress.

Mexican restaurant defends racist t-shirt as “witty and comical.”

On two-year anniversary of the Tucson shooting, Gabby Giffords launches new group to end gun violence.

Neocons promote Iranian propaganda in their anti-Hagel campaign.

GOP Congressmen says Saddam Hussein may have had something to do with 9/11.

Brett Musberger, Katherine Webb, and football’s culture toward women.

AIG might thank America for its $205 BILLION bailout by suing America.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Secretary of Defense

01/08/2013 Nativegrl77

About VoteVets.org

What a way to kick off 2013! Today, after over 13,000 of you (including over 8000 Veterans and Military Families) signed a petition in support of Chuck Hagel, President Obama will announce him as the nominee to be Secretary of Defense.Be sure to tune into the announcement at 1pm EST today.This is a huge victory for us – but the fight is not over yet. Neocons will be doing their absolute worst to try to derail the nomination. The reason is simple – they’re wrong on defense, and Chuck Hagel is not only right, but is willing to call them out.

Here’s why Chuck Hagel will make a tremendous Secretary of Defense.

First, and foremost, as an enlisted soldier, who fought in Vietnam and was awarded the Purple Heart twice, Chuck Hagel’s heart is still with the fighting men and women in uniform. When it comes to military action, Chuck Hagel will ask two questions: Is this good for American security, and is this good for our troops? That is something that is desperately needed. 
Second, when it comes to American security, Chuck Hagel bravely broke with his party and his party’s President, to stand up against the war in Iraq, which will go down in history as one of our most misguided military ventures. Chuck Hagel has no fear when it comes to standing up to neoconservatives, and their preemptive war, nation building dreams.  
Third, and equally as important, Chuck Hagel is a vociferous advocate for cutting Pentagon waste – from outdated weapons to our over-bloated nuclear arsenal, both of which eat up billions and billions of dollars. In these tough economic times, Chuck Hagel will have no problem identifying waste at the Department of Defense, and cutting it.

So, this is a great moment for you, for the nation, and for VoteVets.org. If you have a moment, take to Twitter, and voice your support for Chuck Hagel! Thanks for your support!

Sincerely,
Jon Soltz
Iraq War Veteran
Chairman, VoteVets.org
@jonsoltz

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Rescued by a $182 billion bailout, AIG may sue its savior – the US government

01/08/2013 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

New York Times

The board of AIG will meet on Wednesday to consider joining a $25 billion shareholder lawsuit against the government, court records show

Fresh from paying back a $182 billion bailout, the American International Group has been running a nationwide advertising campaign with the tagline “Thank you America.”

Behind the scenes, the restored insurance company is weighing whether to tell the government agencies that rescued it during the financial crisis: Thanks, but you cheated our shareholders.

The board of AIG will meet Wednesday to consider joining a $25 billion shareholder lawsuit against the government, court records show. The lawsuit does not argue that government help was not needed. It contends that the onerous nature of the rescue – the taking of what became a 92 per cent stake in the company, the deal’s high interest rates and the funneling of billions to the insurer’s Wall Street clients – deprived shareholders of tens of billions of dollars and violated the Fifth Amendment, which prohibits the taking of private property for “public use, without just compensation.”

Maurice R. Greenberg, AIG’s former chief executive, who remains a major investor in the company, filed the lawsuit in 2011 on behalf of fellow shareholders. He has since urged AIG to join the case, a move that could nudge the government into settlement talks.

The choice is not a simple one for the insurer. Its board members, most of whom joined after the bailout, owe a duty to shareholders to consider the lawsuit. If the board does not give careful consideration to the case, Greenberg could challenge its decision to abstain.

Should Greenberg snare a major settlement without AIG, the company could face additional lawsuits from other shareholders. Suing the government would not only placate the 87-year-old former chief but would put AIG in line for a potential payout.

Yet such a move would almost certainly be widely seen as an audacious display of ingratitude. The action would also threaten to inflame tensions in Washington, where the company has become a byword for excessive risk-taking on Wall Street.

Some government officials are already upset with the company for even seriously entertaining the lawsuit, people briefed on the matter said. The people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that without the bailout, AIG shareholders would have fared far worse in bankruptcy.

“On the one hand, from a corporate governance perspective, it appears they’re being extra cautious and careful,” said Frank Partnoy, a former banker who is now a professor of law and finance at the University of San Diego School of Law. “On the other hand, it’s a slap in the face to the taxpayer and the government.”

For its part, AIG has seized on the significance and complexity of the case, which is filed in both New York and Washington. A federal judge in New York dismissed the case, while the Washington court allowed it to proceed.

“The AIG board of directors takes its fiduciary duties and business judgment responsibilities seriously,” said a spokesman, Jon Diat.

On Wednesday, the case will command the spotlight for several hours at AIG’s Lower Manhattan headquarters.

Greenberg’s company, Starr International, will begin with a 45-minute presentation to the board, according to people briefed on the matter. Greenberg is expected to attend, they added.

It will be an unusual homecoming of sorts for Greenberg, who ran AIG for nearly four decades until resigning amid investigations into an accounting scandal in 2005. For some years after his abrupt departure, there was bitterness and litigation between the company and its former chief.

After the Starr briefing Wednesday, lawyers for the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York – the architects of the bailout and defendants in the cases – will make their presentations. Each side will have a few minutes to rebut.

~ Culture & History

Raped …

01/08/2013 Nativegrl77

Dear Avaaz community,

A 23-year-old student has died after being gang raped on a bus for hours. This is the last straw in the global war on women. Join massive protests in India, and call on the government to strengthen laws and launch a major public education campaign to challenge and shame the grotesque attitudes that led to this violence:

She was a 23-year-old physical therapy student who boarded a bus in Delhi last month. Six men locked the door, and savagely raped her for hours, including with a metal rod. They dumped her naked in the street, and after bravely fighting for her life, she died last weekend.

Across India, people are responding in massive protests to say enough is enough. In India a woman is raped every 22 minutes, and few see justice. Globally, a staggering 7 in 10 women will be physically or sexually abused in their lifetime. This horror in Delhi is the last straw — it’s 2013, and the brutal, venal, global war on women must stop. We can start by drawing the line in India.

The government is currently accepting public comments. We urgently need both stronger law enforcement and a massive public education program to change the grotesque but common male attitudes that permit violence against women. If 1 million of us join the call for action, we can help make this young woman’s horror the last straw, and the beginning of a new hope:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/end_indias_war_on_women/?biEWLbb&v=20731

The ringleader of the woman’s rapists coldly says she deserved it because she dared to stand up to him. Blaming the victim and other outrageous attitudes are found across society, including in the police who continually fail to investigate rape. Such views repress women and corrupt men everywhere. Massively funded public education campaigns have radically shifted social behaviour on drunk driving and smoking, and can impact the treatment of women. Tackling the root causes of India’s rape epidemic is vital, alongside better laws and faster legal processes.

Advertising in India is relatively cheap, so a significant funding commitment could blanket airwaves in multiple media markets for a sustained period of time. The ads should target male subcultures where conservative misogyny thrives, directly challenging and shaming those attitudes, ideally using messengers like popular sports figures that carry authority with the audience.

We only have days to influence the official Commission set up to find ways to crack down on India’s wave of sexual violence. If we can show real success in shifting attitudes in India, the model can be applied to other countries. The money spent will more than pay for itself by reducing poverty and promoting development, since treatment and empowerment of women has been identified as one of the greatest single drivers of social and economic progress. Click to send a message directly to the Indian government:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/end_indias_war_on_women/?biEWLbb&v=20731

From opposing the stoning of women in Iran, to supporting the reproductive rights of women in Morocco, Uzbekistan and Honduras, to lobbying for real action to counter the growing ‘rape trade’ in trafficked women and girls, our community has been on the front lines of the fight to end the war on women. This new year begins with new resolve in India.

With hope and determination,

Emma, Ricken, Luis, Meredith, Iain, Ian, Marie, Michelle, Alaphia, Allison and the rest of the Avaaz team

MORE INFORMATION

India gang-rape: Five suspects charged in Delhi (BBC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20896031

Verma committee flooded with suggestions on rape (News One India)
http://news.oneindia.in/2012/12/26/verma-committee-flooded-with-suggestions-on-rape-1120658.html

India’s ‘rape culture’ can be changed: women authors (Hindustan Times)
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Books/Chunk-HT-UI-BooksSectionPage-LiteraryBuzz/India-s-rape-culture-can-be-changed-Women-authors/Article1-984318.aspx

Activists woe low conviction rate, long trials (Times of India)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Activists-woe-low-conviction-rate-long-trials/articleshow/17657522.cms

Delhi Gang-Rape Underscores Rising Sexual Violence Against Indian Women (IB Times)
http://www.ibtimes.com/delhi-gang-rape-underscores-rising-sexual-violence-against-indian-women-944030

Rise in rapes across India (ZeeNews)
http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/rapes-in-india-rise-by-873-percent-from-1953_817894.html

70% of women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime (UN report)
http://www.un.org/en/women/endviolence/pdf/apromiseisapromise.pdf