Dubai Bubble
No one can say that Dubai is not forward thinking in their plans for the emirate. There seems to be a never ending supply of new developments and staggering construction projects. An interesting statistic I came across recently –
25 percent of the world’s operating construction cranes are currently in Dubai - working. That's 30,000 cranes at the moment.
Some are beginning to question the sustainability of all this, especially when you consider all the construction is in the desert - with limited water supply and every single project putting more and more pressure on a limited infrastructure. Money week made an interesting comment recently – “When a property developer starts handing out free BMWs and Bentleys with every apartment sale, you can be sure that a property bubble isn’t far off popping.”
Monday, January 3, 2011
Dubai buelding
Dubai sport city
Dubai city
Dubai 
Dubai best desing
Dubai
Dubai
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Epiphanies
Some epiphanies I had this week
- My brain is perfect.
- I want some cats when I'm older, not just dogs. I like it when they jump on my lap.
- The word 'danger' is great. One of my new favorites. My favorite is still 'belong'.
- Most people escape their cities to find something they are not used to. I can do that within mine.
- I found enjoyment in writing celebrities fanmail recently.
A Nation of Dumb Liberals
Just something I have been thinking about...
The argument can be made easily. The majority of self-identified Liberal Americans think supportively of the Obama administration. They are ignorant to the reality that his administration has a profoundly conservative platform benefiting education, immigration, economic and civil rights policies that mirror those of the previous administration. Their blindness to current events and their inability to differentiate rhetoric from practice proves something quite disturbing: we are a nation made up of apolitical liberals run by conservative interests.
The argument, even more disturbingly, can go much, much further. Take the shopping hobbits of mainstream liberals. They will buy tomato sauce labeled ‘natural’ at their local Whole Foods and pick up an $85 pro-Obama t-shirt at their closest Urban Outfitters. They won’t notice that the label ‘natural’ can be put on nearly anything and that the majority of Whole Foods products are neither local nor organic. They don’t face the reality that both Urban Outfitters and Whole Foods are owned by billionaire Republicans who love marketing to self-absorbed Democrats. Nor will they read the news story that tells them the latest bigoted statement these CEOs released against Civil Rights.
Look, I love Americans. We live in a beautiful country full of good-hearted and well intentioned brothers and sisters from a diverse array of political and economic backgrounds. But, at the end of the day, too many of us are dumb. You can blame the education system, the media and its partisan oversimplifications, or you can boldly put some of the blame on the people themselves. It’s not too hard to pick up a copy of The New York Times every once in awhile, or just log on to BBC or PBS’s website. They just don’t have anyone pressuring them to do so. Being politically minded and well informed is too often mistaken for being arrogant and idealist. In the words of Ohio congressmen Dennis Kucinich, speaking of Americans support of Israel despite their lack of knowledge on the firebombing of homes and shutting down of resources, “Americans need to wake up. Ignorance can be a very powerful tool”. Even more simply, in the words of Malcolm X, “if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.” I just wish Malcolm X had added, “You should stand for something you know something about, or you’ll fall for something you didn’t know was stupid”.
Best Fireworks Show of all time
London Kicks Ass! Can't wait to visit.
Just gets better and better by the minute. Great music can't hurt, either. Wow! Go London!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Visit Beijing pic
After a fabulous celebration of the Olympic Games in 2008, Beijing, or Beijing, has become one of the most exotic tourist destinations and exciting. There are thousands of reasons why a visit, but we do a little effort, we tried to summarize in five all those reasons. We can only find a good flight search flights, and headed to Beijing.
1 .- Historical sites
The city of Beijing, like the rest of the country, has a rich history and vibrant. There are plenty of historic sites that will show you interesting memories. Beijing was the capital of four dynasties. The most important historical sites in Beijing are the Imperial College, Prince Gong’s Mansion, the walls of the Yuan Dynasty and the relics of Yinshan Pagoda. These places are unique and are you going to find them, as well as wonderful examples of architecture, the perfect legacy of Chinese history.
1 .- Historical sites
The city of Beijing, like the rest of the country, has a rich history and vibrant. There are plenty of historic sites that will show you interesting memories. Beijing was the capital of four dynasties. The most important historical sites in Beijing are the Imperial College, Prince Gong’s Mansion, the walls of the Yuan Dynasty and the relics of Yinshan Pagoda. These places are unique and are you going to find them, as well as wonderful examples of architecture, the perfect legacy of Chinese history.
Beijing Visit
Visit Beijing
Beautefull Beijng 
Wall of China
Beijing 
Beijing police
Visit Beijing
The Beijing place
Visit Beijing
Wow beautefull beijing placeHappy New Years
In the first photo, a man and his husband begin a drive from Maine to New York City to watch the ball drop. In the photo's preceding, fireworks in New York and in Hong Kong. Hope everyone had a solid and stable 2010.
Hong kong skyline black & white
he deadline for individuals to notify HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) about previously undisclosed offshore accounts passed at midnight on January 4 meaning those that failed to disclose now face investigations and penalties of up to 100%. However, in spite of the prospect of financial and criminal penalties, PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that only 13,000 individuals took the opportunity to register under the NDO scheme - well under half the number who took advantage of a similar amnesty in 2007.
“In 2007 around 40,000 people registered under the Offshore Disclosure Facility and HMRC raised approximately GBP400m. We predict that around a third of that number have come forward this time under the New Disclosure Opportunity and that HMRC is likely to collect around GBP135m,” commented Stephen Camm, tax partner at PwC.
Under the NDO, people making a complete and accurate disclosure of their untaxed offshore liabilities between September 1, 2009 and March 12, 2010 will have any penalty capped at 10%, or 20% if they failed to take up a written offer of a capped penalty under HMRC’s 2007 Offshore Disclosure Facility.
Poor advertising of the NDO by HMRC has been cited by some as a reason why there was relatively little interest in the scheme. However, the more favourable terms of a parallel offshore amnesty targeting those with financial arrangements in Liechtenstein, known as the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) is thought to be a major reason why offshore account holders have largely shunned the NDO.
John Cassidy, Tax Investigations Partner at PKF Accountants & business advisers observed: “Individuals registered to use the NDO will have to come clean about undeclared income over the last 20 years. However, if the LDF route is used it is a much shorter period of around 10 years. Because the difference in the number of years involved is so stark, the tax – and interest - saved can be significant.”
The LDF, the result of an agreement between the UK and Liechtenstein last summer, also caps penalties at 10% and allows account holders to make a full disclosure of their financial arrangements in the Principality until March 31, 2015. It is also still possible to register for the LDF, and those who have already registered for the NDO can also transfer to the Liechtenstein scheme, Cassidy noted.
PKF points out that if an individual had GBP1m of clean funds deposited overseas at the start of the tax year 1990/91 and it earned interest at a steady 5%, the tax and interest and penalty charges owed to HMRC under the NDO would be around GBP967,000, whereas under the LDF they would be just GBP493,000 - a saving of GBP473,000. Additional savings could be made if the original capital in the account has not been taxed or inheritance tax is outstanding.
Moreover, Cassidy remarked that it was an “absolute myth” that a Liechtenstein bank account is needed in order to benefit from the LDF.
“An interest in relevant property in Liechtenstein can be acquired now and the benefits of the LDF obtained. There are, of course, other variables to properly consider for each individual before determining whether the LDF is viable but, in the right circumstances, the potential savings are significant,” he concluded.{{desc}}
“In 2007 around 40,000 people registered under the Offshore Disclosure Facility and HMRC raised approximately GBP400m. We predict that around a third of that number have come forward this time under the New Disclosure Opportunity and that HMRC is likely to collect around GBP135m,” commented Stephen Camm, tax partner at PwC.
Under the NDO, people making a complete and accurate disclosure of their untaxed offshore liabilities between September 1, 2009 and March 12, 2010 will have any penalty capped at 10%, or 20% if they failed to take up a written offer of a capped penalty under HMRC’s 2007 Offshore Disclosure Facility.
Hong kong skyline black & white
Hong kong skyline black & white
Hong kong skyline black & white
Hong kong skyline black & white
Hong kong skyline black & white
Hong kong skyline black & white
Hong kong skyline black & whitr
Hong kong skyline black & white
Hong kong skyline black & white
Poor advertising of the NDO by HMRC has been cited by some as a reason why there was relatively little interest in the scheme. However, the more favourable terms of a parallel offshore amnesty targeting those with financial arrangements in Liechtenstein, known as the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) is thought to be a major reason why offshore account holders have largely shunned the NDO.
John Cassidy, Tax Investigations Partner at PKF Accountants & business advisers observed: “Individuals registered to use the NDO will have to come clean about undeclared income over the last 20 years. However, if the LDF route is used it is a much shorter period of around 10 years. Because the difference in the number of years involved is so stark, the tax – and interest - saved can be significant.”
The LDF, the result of an agreement between the UK and Liechtenstein last summer, also caps penalties at 10% and allows account holders to make a full disclosure of their financial arrangements in the Principality until March 31, 2015. It is also still possible to register for the LDF, and those who have already registered for the NDO can also transfer to the Liechtenstein scheme, Cassidy noted.
PKF points out that if an individual had GBP1m of clean funds deposited overseas at the start of the tax year 1990/91 and it earned interest at a steady 5%, the tax and interest and penalty charges owed to HMRC under the NDO would be around GBP967,000, whereas under the LDF they would be just GBP493,000 - a saving of GBP473,000. Additional savings could be made if the original capital in the account has not been taxed or inheritance tax is outstanding.
Moreover, Cassidy remarked that it was an “absolute myth” that a Liechtenstein bank account is needed in order to benefit from the LDF.
“An interest in relevant property in Liechtenstein can be acquired now and the benefits of the LDF obtained. There are, of course, other variables to properly consider for each individual before determining whether the LDF is viable but, in the right circumstances, the potential savings are significant,” he concluded.{{desc}}
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