^^As in Billy Clinton??..^^ ..partly over the use of landmines in a treaty. Billy Clinton would accept that, but he wanted "the treaty to provide some exceptions to protect U.S. troops, including allowances for the use of certain land mines on the demarcation line in Korea."
^^There were many..^^ ..U.S. folks who never became president but won this peace prize..Gore tried to become one, close but no cigar..
Correct; Teddy Roosevelt was a republican. But - that was before the parties switched platforms. Republicans were the progressives through Teddy Roosevelt, but became the conservatives with Taft.
Hmm.. ..actually the parties never switched platforms. Progressivism was a bipartisan movement. The Progressive group Teddy Roosevelt was in was a spin-off from the Republican party (they only carried the party's name). Taft's conservative Republican group had been there all along. W. Wilson's Democratic party also tagged along with Progressivism.
US officials in rare HK trips to audit tax returns Nick Westra Updated on Oct 12, 2009 The long arm of United States tax enforcement extended its reach further into Hong Kong last month as squads of high-level officials made rare trips to the city to audit American tax returns and discuss a voluntary disclosure programme, according to people familiar with the situation. Two teams of US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents - with at least two international division auditors and five criminal investigators - reportedly visited Hong Kong in mid-September in separate trips. The people said the auditors were reviewing certain individuals' US tax returns and gathering supporting information to verify the claims. The trips were part of an IRS programme to collect a comprehensive amount of information on random targets for research purposes. "I have never seen one of these in my 16 years of working in Hong Kong," said one person with knowledge of the audits. "These are randomly selected returns that evidently happen all the time, but historically the IRS just ignored the ones for overseas taxpayers because of all the time and money involved in conducting those audits." Around the same time last month, a handful of IRS investigators gave a presentation at the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong to a standing-room-only crowd of lawyers, tax consultants, organisation members and other officials. The agents discussed the foreign bank account reporting requirements for overseas Americans and the penalties of non-compliance. "Part of our job at the chamber is to get the word out on these issues as best we can," said Richard Vuylsteke, the president of AmCham in Hong Kong. "If people haven't heard about these requirements, they should check the IRS website, and if they have heard about them, they should tell their friends." The IRS set up a voluntary disclosure programme this year for US citizens to announce previously unreported income from offshore bank accounts in exchange for leniency. Otherwise, individuals who have not complied with existing tax reporting regulations could face substantial fines and possible prosecution. The US is one of only a few major countries in the world that requires its citizens living abroad to pay taxes on their foreign-earned income. And the IRS has tightened its enforcement of this requirement in recent years amid suspicion that increasing numbers of Americans may be dodging their taxes by moving abroad, setting up offshore bank accounts and opening up offices overseas. In Hong Kong, the IRS has an attache and a special agent reporting to the bureau's criminal investigation division, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The US consulate verified that there is an attache in the city, but neither confirmed nor denied the posting of a special agent or any other related officials. The IRS assigns agents to strategic foreign locations to gather information and assist in international investigations - among other things - according to its manual.
Americans in HK rush to beat this week's tax deadline Nick Westra Updated on Oct 12, 2009 Americans living in Hong Kong are rushing to ensure their tax affairs are in order ahead of Thursday's deadline for them to voluntarily disclose unreported income in offshore accounts. The US government is casting its shadow across the Pacific and stepping up efforts to catch tax cheats and expand overseas enforcement. Kurt Rademacher, a Hong Kong-based partner at the law firm Withers, said he had received at least three or four inquiries a day in recent months about US tax compliance issues after previously getting just a few a year. "We have seen a huge increase in the number of people coming forward to talk about these issues." The so-called amnesty scheme was initiated earlier this year by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) following a UBS settlement over allegations of abetting tax evasion. The programme was designed to gather information that would widen an ongoing investigation into a suspected web of wealthy tax cheats. But many ordinary Americans have been caught out as well because they were either unaware of stringent US tax-filing requirements or completed them incorrectly. In addition to paying local taxes, the 60,000-plus Americans living in Hong Kong must regularly declare their earnings to the IRS. They are allowed an exclusion of as much as US$91,400 in locally earned income for 2009 if they can prove they spent most of the year abroad. But they must complete a filing regardless of whether they are under the threshold or not. US citizens must also report whether the combined value of their personal overseas bank accounts, or even those for which they have signatory power, has exceeded US$10,000 at any time in a given year. Robert Keys, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (Hong Kong) said: "There is an incredible amount of additional complication that affects the tax filing for an American living abroad. The foreign issues on a return are much more complex than those for a typical guy sitting in San Francisco." Andrey Krahmal, a senior associate at international law firm Allen & Overy in London, said US citizens must still report their foreign earnings to the government or risk substantial fines or even criminal charges. Even though the compliance requirements can be so complex that they require the assistance of a tax lawyer or accountant, it is the responsibility of the taxpayer to ensure their affairs are in order. "[And] those who received bad or no tax advice or believed the veil of banking secrecy to be impenetrable by the US tax authorities are now finding themselves in need of coming clean before the IRS," Krahmal said. This is because the IRS has pledged to tighten its enforcement of international taxation amid growing suspicions that wealthy Americans have been exploiting loopholes in foreign tax codes and been stashing cash overseas. Those fears were fanned in February when UBS struck a US$780 million settlement with the US government to avoid facing charges of assisting wealthy Americans with tax evasion. Highlighting the gravity of the allegations, the Swiss bank also broke from the centuries-old banking tradition of guarding customer secrecy and identified some clients who may have been involved. The number of named clients has since reportedly expanded to more than 4,000. At least six UBS clients have since pleaded guilty to tax evasion. And in a sign that Hong Kong could come under greater scrutiny, four of those individuals were said to have used dummy corporate structures in the city to facilitate their plans. But the IRS' push to beef up its overseas presence is not just a reaction to recent events. It is also part of a long-term effort to adapt to an increasingly global business environment. In its Strategic Plan 2009-2013 released in April, the IRS said some taxpayers may be dropping off the radar as more wealth shifted overseas. It estimated that the percentage of US citizens' income coming from abroad had doubled from 2001 to 2006 and that the number of multinational firms worldwide had increased by 20 times to 63,000 since 1990. The IRS also published an announcement that month entitled "Reaching out to Americans abroad". It said there were 7 million US citizens living overseas and included information for them to learn more about tax requirements. The growing reach of the IRS was something that Americans living abroad must take note of, said Richard Weisman, a tax partner at Baker & McKenzie in Hong Kong. "While the basic US tax laws themselves have not materially changed, the tax enforcement climate in the US has totally changed in the last year or so," Weisman said. The US economy has been battered by the global downturn and is facing slower growth and mounting debts. Its budget deficit for the financial year climbed to a record US$1.38 trillion in August and unemployment has ballooned to a 26-year high. Against this backdrop, the US government has eagerly pumped more resources into the IRS in the hope that it can collect more revenue to fill the coffers. US President Barack Obama outlined a plan in May which he said would recoup US$210 billion over the next decade in part by hiring 800 new IRS agents for overseas assignments. The growing footprint of the US taxman has sparked consternation among Americans overseas given the IRS' harsh rhetoric in the wake of the UBS settlement. Keys said: "People don't want the IRS to put their financial affairs under a spotlight, whether they are completely compliant or not."
Voices of secessionists grow louder in America Agence France-Presse in Washington Updated on Oct 12, 2009 Tired of high taxes and wars in faraway countries? Angry at bailouts for fat-cat bankers? A growing number of Americans are pushing their states to defy federal laws - and some are advocating secession. Both the state right's advocates and the secessionists agree on one thing: they want the federal government off their backs. "The US government has lost its moral authority," said Thomas Naylor, a retired economics professor who heads the Second Vermont Republic movement. "Our government is operated and owned by Wall Street and corporate America. The empire is going down - do you want to go down with the Titanic, or seek other options." Secessionists and states rights advocates span political boundaries and predate President Barack Obama's election. Experts, such as Jason Sorens at the University of Buffalo in the state of New York, say their growth is being fuelled by the recession, government growth and the explosion in federal spending. "There is more talk today about nullification [invalidating federal laws] and secession... than any time since 1865," said Kirkpatrick Sale, who heads the South Carolina-based Middlebury Institute that studies separatism and self-determination. There are active secessionist groups in at least 10 US states, including Vermont, Hawaii, Alaska, Texas, and the US commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Sale said. Texas Governor Rick Perry, who is running for re-election, raised eyebrows in April by suggesting at a conservative "tea party" rally that he favoured seceding from the union. Texas was an independent republic from 1836 to 1845, as was Vermont from 1777 to 1791. The United States declared its independence in 1776. Texas last seceded in 1861, when it joined 10 other southern states to form the Confederate States of America. The US civil war soon broke out, and four years and 620,000 lives later, the union was restored. "Secession is our only answer because our federal government is broken and cannot be repaired in the current political system," said Dave Mundy, a spokesman for the Texas Nationalist Movement. J.R. Labbe, editorial director at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, dismisses secessionists as a minority voice made louder by technology. "Digital cameras that can upload images and sound bites - and 24/7 news channels that are always looking for the most bizarre clip they can find - have given them a much broader audience than they, or Texas, deserve," she said. Labbe also downplayed Perry's remark as pandering to "a small but vocal mix" of those who want free states and anti-Washington activists. The secessionists also have little support among states rights advocates, said Michael Boldin, founder of The Tenth Amendment Centre, a California-based think tank. "There are some mutual goals, but the end result are very different," Boldin said. In contrast to the secessionists, the push for increased state rights is having a real impact on federal law. For example, 25 states have passed laws preventing the 2005 Real ID Act, which sets federal standards for identification cards, from being implemented. Also, 13 states have legalised marijuana for medical use, in defiance of federal anti-drug regulations. As tensions grow over health care reform, 15 states are pushing laws that would exempt them from federal health care regulations. The issue goes to Arizona voters next year. Montana and Tennessee have even passed laws exempting weapons and ammunition produced in their states from federal regulations. It is unlikely secessionists could strengthen and split from the country, said Lyn Spillman, a specialist on nationalism at the University of Notre Dame. "Considered generally, secession movements - which are quite common in American history - are extremely unlikely to have significant political consequences." But Sale says a collapse of the dollar and anger over foreign wars, combined with ruinous climate change, could create a push towards energy, water and food independence.
According to US gov. It is not tax. It is a dead line for disclosure of Foreign Bank account. On the other hand, it is a invasion of my PRIVACY!
as deserving as Arafat for winning the nobel peace for peace in the middle east lol. BTW, 1. Nobel peace also awarded IPCC which their claim of global warming due to CO2 is leaking by the days. http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1048446&postcount=22 2, Nobel Peace also nominated Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin for the prize as well.
What I have to say may be contentious. Prior to Obama the world was heading towards polarization, with the US the main villain. Look no further than all the wars they have been engaged in since WWII, the many military bases they have around the world ostensibly to keep America safe and to promote democracy, the missile shield in Europe (now dead, thanks to Obama), the irresponsible declaration of naming countries it does not like as the axis of evil, the hypocrisy that only a few countries can continue to possess nuclear arsenal (US, France, UK, China, Israel, Russia) including countries like Pakistan and India who had no legal right to have such capability but are now accepted by the US. North Korea and Iran have a more compelling right, to prevent them from being wiped off the earth, to have the bomb than both Pakistan and India. Now, Obama has reduced the US vs the Muslim world great divide that has threatened to be a breeding ground for evr more terrorism. His tone towards Iran, North Korea, Myanmar is more reconciliatory which goes a long way to solving problem. His less pro-Israel stance is more even-handed. The bottom line is that almost every country in the world other than the US feels that there is a lowering of tension-a pre-requisite to peace. The impact is more global, very unlike those prizes given to undeserved political dissidents.
^^Hmm..^^ (this is slightly off topic).. Abt this Nobel Peace Prize award given to Prez BO: The way i see the world views the U.S. is like a 13 yr old looking & expecting Santa Claus to come & bring them toys. The world looks @ the U.S. as the North Pole. They believe in Santa Claus. And now Broke OWE-bama is considered the Santa Claus who'll bring toys and goodies. What this Nobel Peace Prize award is like giving cookies and milk to Santa Claus even before he delivers the goods (and that's not even a sure thing). The world thinks Prez BO will bring and give them the peace, transquility and a world free of nuclear weapons with his many speeches..................dream on, BO is being naive... As far as terrorism is concerned, Prez BO is naive to think by lessening the tension between the U.S. and the muslim world, it will reduce terrorism. Naive. Those terrorists groups have their own agenda and they are to eliminate the western culture. If possible to take over their culture. I understand people, living in other countries, who haven't been hit by a terrorist attack, they might not feel the impact. But if they do, they might think otherwise.
FYI, a little more than 5 decades ago the US was well respected by the world in general and the Muslims in particular. The US took the side of the Arabs during the Suez crisis against the UK and France, which was perceived as an act against colonialism by the Europeans against a down-trodden Egypt. Today, how different that love has turned to intense hatred, with even some of the Europeans turning against the US. This is the crux of the problem for this great divide. Bush was the crowning glory of such foolhardy. Obama's or any future world leaders including American presidents now have a much more difficult task to bring down the heat. Americans now like their British colonialists a hundred years ago will never allow their sun to set on their American or British empires. Initially some will say it is betrayal of America's strength whilst others will accept that the world will no longer revolve around America. It is hard to accept change and even harder to do so if changes are too fast. But what is the alternative? More wars, more military bases in other countries' backyard, more military alliances to contain up and coming countries like China, more blinkered view that all Muslims are terrorist materials, and more sanctions against countries you don't like? Now, even Japan is beginning to see their early folly of their complete dependence on US, especially in security.
^^Hmm..^^ (slightly off topic) Mr. T. If you don't know, this whole world issue, esp. between the U.S. and the Middle East (muslim world) is rooted in the long standing dispute between the Arab world vs. Israel. It all revolves around Israel, its existence and the end of the world will revolve around them. Yes, some would say it was started abt 5 or so decades ago (right abt the time after Israel gained its independence and the U.S. pledged its support for Israel).. But in reality, it started much longer than that. Just take a look at the map of the middle east. See where is Israel. And look around Israel and tell me how many & what other countries are surrounding Israel. All are muslim nations ready to jump and destroy the minute Israel. Yes, Iran is the chief (yes, with their atomic bomb(s)). Guess what, they are plotting with Russia and China to elimiate Israel (don't believe abt Russia is now threatening Iran baloney; how abt Ahmadinejab talking abt wiping out Israel and denying abt the holocaust ever existed?). So, you tell me, who's going to protect Israel when it's attacked. HK? CHN? Russia? M'sia?...Dream on... Again, the Jews/Israel might be a tiny, stubborn and arrogant group of people/nation, but no matter what happens, at the end they will come out victorious (their history has shown it). U.S. and the Brits are right all along when they decided to support Israel. They should be protecting the interest of Israel. Unfortunately, the current U.S. Prez has no interest in doing so. All the apologizing tours around the world....what for??.. As for the Europeans turning on the U.S. now, well, they must've forgotten how the U.S. liberated them from Hitler, eh?..Same deal with the rest of Asia from Japan. As for labeling all Muslims as terrorists, i think the U.S. only points to a certain group of people, not all muslim countries/folks. But please tell us: What other groups have delivered & inspired more terrorist groups to do more damages & even kill innocent civilians/countries (even in their own countries/own people)?...Be grateful HK is fortunate it hasn't been hit by a terrorist attack. As for the U.S. role, please explain why the rest of the world is hating the U.S.? Do you know the U.S. has been fighting for freedom and trying to set democracy all over the world? Tell us, what other country is doing so? CHN? Russia? UK?...Aren't you lucky to be living in a free, democratic country/city like HK? Or would you prefer living in Iran or North Korea? Read the Bible. It's already prophesized. Or if you don't have one, get one.
I guess you can look from the view point of what is happening in the Gaza Strip. Let's all look at it from this point of view, you're a baker in the gaza strip, a palestinan baker who had a family to feed and you had a small business in baking bread. Next thing you know, out of nowhere, Israeli tanks and bulldozers come in and bulldoze your house / business and in the process kill your family. Great injustice you feel, though please let's bear in mind I am not going to try and dispute the legality of the actions of Israel with regards to this example. However, put yourself in his shoes, someone who had everything to live for and in a blink of an eye, everything you have is gone. You have nothing left. Your faimly is dead, your business is gone and you are kicked out of your home by force. I don't really see why these Palestinians would not take up arms and attack who they believe and perceive to be the enemy here, which in their eyes would be Israel. Add to the fact that the United States of America is Israel's greatest ally. With regards to the United States of America, I feel the general consensus felt by the Islamic world, is that it does not play fair. Sure they supplied arms to liberate them from many of its oppressors (which included the late soviet empire) but after that as it is, they leave without rebuilding the country in the case of Afghanistan. With no proper government or support Afghanistan manifested into what prior to 9/11 was the stronghold for Taleban and Islamic extreemism. I'm not attacking the United States of America for promoting freedom and democracy. My view on the matter is, they can do more and should have done so previously.
