Monthly Archives: July 2014

Obama pushes to stop corporate overseas tax moves

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“Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told both House and Senate leaders in a letter that such deals, known as inversions, ‘hollow out the U.S. corporate income tax base,’ and Congress should immediately enact legislation retroactive to May that stops the practice.  ‘We should not be providing support for corporations that seek to shift their profits overseas to avoid paying their fair share of taxes,’ Lew said in the letter dated Tuesday.  A total of 47 U.S.-based companies have combined with foreign businesses over the past decade in inversions, according to the Congressional Research Service. Several more are planning or considering the move, including Walgreen Co.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/obama-pushes-to-stop-corporate-overseas-tax-moves/2014/07/16/6acd9708-0d21-11e4-bd4e-462c357f0998_story.html

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Puerto Rico bonds crash high-yield municipal debt party

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“The island of Puerto Rico shocked investors by passing a law that gives its government-controlled corporations the ability to restructure their debt. Until that point, many investors assumed that the government of the U.S. territory would stand fully behind the bonds, although there was never a promise to do so.  The impact has been dramatic because Puerto Rico’s government and related entities have $73 billion of outstanding debt, nearly $20,000 for every resident of the island, and it has been widely held by U.S. high-yield muni funds. Some of the biggest funds were heavily overweight in Puerto Rican debt and have taken a battering as a result.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-usa-municipals-puertorico-20140716,0,4827975,full.story

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Real-Estate Investors See No Problem With Puerto Rico

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“There have been about $1 billion in upscale-property deals on the island over the past couple of years, local investors say, even as the island’s economy has fallen into a tailspin and analysts raise the specter of default.  Some see their investments as longer-term bets on Puerto Rico’s eventual turnaround, and on tourists’ willingness to overlook the island’s credit concerns. Others are betting that changes to Puerto Rico’s tax code, which eliminates most taxes on investments, will lure thousands of wealthy U.S. citizens.  The Puerto Rican government says so far 280 individuals have relocated to the island for tax reasons, while another 250 businesses have moved to the island.”

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/real-estate-investors-see-no-013300405.html

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Rock-bottom vacancy rates push Colorado rents to all-time high

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“Average rents in Colorado hit a new high of $1,026 in the first quarter of 2014, up 8 percent from $950 in the first quarter of 2013, and 3.4 percent from $992 in the fourth quarter, the Colorado Division of Housing said Wednesday.  The increase was particularly evident in northern Colorado and metro Denver, where Division of Housing economist Ryan McMaken said job growth and demand for apartments continues to outpace construction.  In the Fort Collins-Loveland market, vacancy rates hit a 13-year low of 1.7 percent in the first quarter, compared with 5.2 percent statewide.  The vacancy rate in Denver, measured in May, was 5.1 percent.”

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_25943578/rock-bottom-vacancy-rates-push-colorado-rents-all

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Denver unemployment sharply lower after marijuana legalization

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“Metro Denver’s unadjusted unemployment rate stood at 5.4 percent in April, sharply lower than a year earlier, according to raw county jobs estimates Friday from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.  Unemployment in metro Denver was 6.5 percent in April 2013 and 6.4 percent in March of this year, according to the CDLE numbers.  The 5.4 percent unadjusted jobless rate is for a 10-county area that includes Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Broomfield and Centennial, but not Boulder County.  Boulder County’s unemployment rate was 4.2 percent last month. The rate for metro Denver combined with Boulder was 5.3 percent.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2014/05/16/metro-denver-unemployment-rate-sharply-lower.html

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How to Get Paid $28/Hour for Delivering Pizzas

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“Even notoriously stingy Walmart is starting new hires at $17 an hour.  Why are these businesses so eager to hire? Because business is booming. And business is booming because they’re near the Bakken, which is at the heart of America’s energy resurgence.  Oil companies, sensing an opportunity to profit, are luring workers to North Dakota by paying them top dollar. These workers then eat pizza and shop at Walmart. The result is a booming local economy.  Notice what is not part of this equation: the government.  Contrast North Dakota to the growing list of US cities that are attempting to force wages higher via minimum-wage increases.”

http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/how-to-get-paid-28-hour-for-delivering-pizzas

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FBI: Driverless cars good for surveillance but could be deadly weapons

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“The FBI’s thoughts on self-driving cars are two-fold: Driverless cars could make surveillance easier and more effective, but they could become lethal weapons in the wrong hands.  In an internal report from its strategic issues group, the FBI touches on a range of risks, among them the threat the vehicles could be turned into driverless car bombs. The agency also said ‘bad actors’ could override safety features in the cars or ‘conduct tasks that require use of both hands or taking one’s eyes off the road which would be impossible today,’ according to VentureBeat.  The agency is upbeat regarding surveillance possibilities afforded by driverless cars.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2014/07/16/fbi-says-driverless-cars-good-for-surveillance-but.html

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Reporter Baffled After TSA Rejects His D.C. ID, Demands Passport

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“A TSA agent at the Orlando International Airport demanded to see the passport of Justin Gray, a Washington, D.C., correspondent for central Florida’s WFTV news. According to WFTV, the agent was not familiar with the District of Columbia, and therefore could not accept Gray’s D.C. driver’s license as a valid form of ID.  According to a later tweet from Gray, the TSA has responded by showing every Orlando agent a picture of a D.C. license.  Perhaps surprisingly, this wasn’t an isolated incident. In February, a TSA agent in Phoenix delayed a D.C. resident because the traveler couldn’t present a ‘state-issued’ ID.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/15/tsa-agent-dc-license-passport_n_5588735.html

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FBI facial records could contain 52 million images by next year

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“The documents provided to the EFF indicate that in 2012 the FBI possessed 13.6 million pictures, belonging to between 7 and 8 million people. One year later that number had jumped to 16 million images. By 2015, with help from an image processor that the FBI hopes will be able to sort through 55,000 photos each day, the NGI could have no less than 52 million images logged.  Americans not suspected of any criminal activity could easily be swept up into the NGI in any number of ways. An individual who goes through a fingerprint background check for an employment opportunity, for instance, could soon be required to submit a picture of himself along as well.”

http://rt.com/usa/fbi-facial-records-52-million-508/

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UK police test ‘faster-than-ever’ facial recognition software

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“Facial recognition surveillance software being tested by British cops that allows ‘faster than ever’ data searching and tracking of subjects is raising concerns among privacy activists.  NeoFace software analyses dozens of facial features from digital CCTV images or police body cameras and matching them with the 90,000 photos stored on Leicestershire Police’s database, which had become the first unit in the UK to test it.  Processing takes a matter of seconds.  ‘Besides the speed it’s also impressive because it can even find family members related to the person we’re trying to identify.’ Identity unit Manager Andy Ramsay adds.”

http://rt.com/uk/173292-facial-recognition-surveillance-software/

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