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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (640383)	12/29/2011 11:13:44 PM
From: i-node	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575626

>> By the way, his dismissal of the following satellite photo is pretty laughable: Merely environmentalists, doing the environmentally responsible thing.

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (640383)	12/30/2011 1:12:06 AM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 1575626

Very interesting.

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (640383)	12/30/2011 2:21:26 AM
From: bentway	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1575626

Look how FREE the N. Koreans are from electronic pollution! <g>

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (640383)	12/30/2011 12:09:35 PM
From: bentway	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1575626

Struggling US Cities Turn Off the Lights TOWNS NATIONWIDE GET A LITTLE DARKER By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff newser.com Posted Dec 30, 2011 9:14 AM CST (NEWSER) – For a number of cities across the US, troubled local economies have led to dark times—literally. From Oregon to Illinois to California, struggling towns have found themselves forced to turn off, and often completely remove, local streetlights. And with winter shortening daylight hours, citizens are none too pleased by the change. "I don’t go out to get gas at night. I don’t run to any stores. I try to do everything in the daytime and to be back before night falls," says a woman in Highland Park, Mich. Just 500 of 1,600 streetlights remain shining in the town, which sits next to Detroit. The result: "It’s just too dark," says a minister. And while other budget cuts may fly under the radar for many, a lack of light is something everyone notices, the New York Times notes. Officials say it can't be helped. "It’s like your own budget at home—we can’t afford this anymore," says an Illinois town's public works chief. Locals are turning to their own outdoor lamps, from porch lights to Christmas lights. "What happened to our streetlights is what happens when politicians lose hope," adds the minister. "All kinds of crazy decisions get made, and citizens lose faith in the process.”

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (640383)	12/30/2011 1:16:34 PM
From: bentway	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1575626

Payroll Tax Cut Temporarily Extended into 2012 irs.gov IR-2011-124, Dec. 23, 2011 ( My guess is Obama had to promise to keep silent about this, because it looks and smells like a tax hike on the wealthy to me!) WASHINGTON — Nearly 160 million workers will benefit from the extension of the reduced payroll tax rate that has been in effect for 2011. The Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 temporarily extends the two percentage point payroll tax cut for employees, continuing the reduction of their Social Security tax withholding rate from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent of wages paid through Feb. 29, 2012. This reduced Social Security withholding will have no effect on employees’ future Social Security benefits. Employers should implement the new payroll tax rate as soon as possible in 2012 but not later than Jan. 31, 2012. For any Social Security tax over-withheld during January, employers should make an offsetting adjustment in workers’ pay as soon as possible but not later than March 31, 2012. Employers and payroll companies will handle the withholding changes, so workers should not need to take any additional action. Under the terms negotiated by Congress, the law also includes a new “recapture” provision, which applies only to those employees who receive more than $18,350 in wages during the two-month period (the Social Security wage base for 2012 is $110,100, and $18,350 represents two months of the full-year amount). This provision imposes an additional income tax on these higher-income employees in an amount equal to 2 percent of the amount of wages they receive during the two-month period in excess of $18,350 (and not greater than $110,100). This additional recapture tax is an add-on to income tax liability that the employee would otherwise pay for 2012 and is not subject to reduction by credits or deductions. The recapture tax would be payable in 2013 when the employee files his or her income tax return for the 2012 tax year. With the possibility of a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut being discussed for 2012, the IRS will closely monitor the situation in case future legislation changes the recapture provision. The IRS will issue additional guidance as needed to implement the provisions of this new two-month extension, including revised employment tax forms and instructions and information for employees who may be subject to the new “recapture” provision. For most employers, the quarterly employment tax return for the quarter ending March 31, 2012, is due April 30, 2012.