A little word on tax avoidance

Salamu

Here is a question…have you ever sat and wondered how much shit multinational companies actually get away with?

Before you all think I am some kind of drug addict freak that sits and smokes the reefer just to think up this shit, it is actually work related research which has brought me to this subject. So it is that point of reference from which I am writing.

Now that we have cleared that up, let’s get back to the tangent from which I started the post. What I am about to tell you is common knowledge to some people. But in my opinion, the demographic of ‘some people’ is far too small. For all the great things the Americans are…. this is a global issue and needs to be exposed to a global audience. To an audience who don’t think the sun shines out of the particular company in question’s arse!

There is an old saying which says that the only things unavoidable in life are death and taxes. Well, it seems that Apple has been able to avoid the latter.

While 2012 proved to be one of the most fascinating years for the technology industry, Apple found that it was faced with one of the most challenging years in the company’s history. Not only did the company have to deal with investor unrest, the company lost its position as the world’s richest company to Exxon Mobil. The company also spent the majority of the year playing second fiddle to Samsung who became the top selling smartphone manufacturer in the world. Added to this, Android overtook Apple as the most popular tablet operating system in the world by sales.

2013 has proved to be just as challenging. The company has just finished answering allegations brought before it by the US Senate that the company is not paying its fair share in terms of taxes. A complex tax system which involves Irish based subsidiaries has been labeled as immoral and bordering on illegal.

The Senate report noted that Apple's Irish subsidiary earned $22-billion in 2011. However, it wound up paying only $10-million in taxes.

"Apple's three primary Irish entities hold 60% of the company's profits but claim to be tax residents nowhere in the world," Arizona Sen. John McCain said, adding that it was "completely outrageous" that Apple has managed to avoid paying taxes at home and abroad.

Apple is still waiting for the fallout from the hearing. But it seems like the clover munching Irish are going to beat them to the punch. The country is finally thinking up plans to reform its tax programs.

The effects of this will be far reaching. A major reason that multinational companies base their subsidiaries in Ireland is because it is considered a tax haven. This has become a major draw card for the country. By implementing laws which eradicate loopholes, the country is closing itself off to potential future business development in the country.

This business development goes far beyond merely setting up a subsidiary in the country, multinational corporations contribute significantly to the Irish economy in terms of skills development and training as well as job creation. It is also not only Apple who will be affected. Other technology companies such as Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Facebook all own subsidiaries based in the country.

Despite this….it’s ABOUT FEKING TIME Ireland got its shit together!

We tend to forget that companies are like lemmings. Once they see one company has found a way to avoid paying to Caesar that which is owing to Caesar they are quick to follow suit. The sad part about this is that these companies are American. And while they do contribute to skills development and job creation in Ireland and other parts of the world, the US is going through its own challenges regarding these same topics.

Is it so bad then for the Senate to question Apple regarding this? NO IT ISNT. AGAIN, IT’S ABOUT FEKING TIME that happened as well. So then why are the public SO up in arms about the topic?

You are all very loyal right…sure you are. Let me ask you a question, do you think Apple gives a shit about you on a level other than that dictated by a sale and the after sales service associated thereto? Answer: NO! And Apple proves it every day and has been since 1980. Apple was one of the founding companies of the Double Irish Tax Practice. Don’t you think if Apple cared about the local economy it wouldn’t have already established skills development programs and would have brought back SOME production to the US? SO MUCH FOR BEING PROUDLY AMERICAN.

When oil companies push the limits of environmental practices, tree huggers from Green Peace are all over them like a bad rash. It’s the same with mining companies. And don’t get me started on PETA.

Don’t get me wrong, these companies play an important role in society, but perhaps it’s time to establish a public watchdog group for the technology industry to kick up a fuss whenever technology companies take advantage.

Mei jua daima kuwa kabla yenu, na vivuli nyuma yako!

Base stupidity rears its head in the wake of the Oklahoma tornado

Disclaimer: I am aware that the chosen topic is a controversial one. These are my views on a delicate matter and may not reflect the feelings of the masses.

Salamu

Throughout my years as a participant in the media industry I can honestly say that I have seen some pretty weird and wonderful things. However, one thing always comes back to surprise me every single time. That is the level of base stupidity in the world.

The US state of Oklahoma is currently rebuilding after a devastating Twister (or as the rest of the normal world calls it…a tornado) ripped through the state causing all kinds of devastation. The tragic event left many people dead and countless others injured. Those that have survived are now tasked with the burden of rebuilding their lives with the event fresh in their minds.

If you want to read about how tornadoes are formed, I suggest you visit this Wikipedia page which will give you more insight. In a nutshell it is a natural disaster and is not, in my opinion, an act of God.

However, a member of the Oklahoma Baptist Church (in all his cracker ass, hillbilly, redneck wisdom) has come out and said that the tornado is punishment for open support of gay NBA star Jason Collins. Please see the attached image for the wise words of the mayonnaise sandwich loving Fred Phelps Jnr.

This is also not the first time a member of the public who has spewed in what my opinion is complete and utter BULLSHIT. In 2012, chaplain John McTernan linked Hurricane Sandy (and a number of other recent weather-related trends and natural disasters) on lesbian, gay,bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and President Barack Obama's backing of marriage equality.

"God is systematically destroying America," McTernan wrote at the time. "Just look at what has happened this year."

McTernan similarly linked Hurricane Isaac with the LGBT community, pointing to the fact that the life-threatening storm coincided with Southern Decadence, New Orleans' "Gay Mardi Gras."

"New Orleans is still hosting Southern Decadence with open homosexuality manifesting in the streets of the city," he wrote in a blog. "It could be that God is putting an end to this city and its wickedness."

This is why I say it is bullshit… there are plenty of examples in the Bible of where God was vengeful and sent disasters to cleanse the world. He sent the great flood and even destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He also rained down fire on Egypt because Ramses II was persecuting the Jews

But there are also plenty of examples of God’s love. During his great mission Jesus preached that of all the commandments that God gave to Moses, the greatest was the new commandment which God sent Jesus to give. That is too love your neighbor as God has loved you. 

The Apostle John says: Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

I do not claim to be a great student of Theology, nor do I even have any qualifications in Theology. But I feel that this love must apply to EVERYONE regardless of race, gender, religious standpoint or sexual orientation.  It is so warming to see that after all of these years, Pope Francis has finally come out and has said that even Atheists will be offered a chance to enter heaven.

I fail to believe that if Jesus preached love, and if God sent his only son to die for our sins, that the natural disasters discussed above are being sent by God as punishment for something.

It saddens me that people who don’t have a clue about what they are talking about go out and make statements like those made by Phelps Jnr and McTernan. It also saddens me that these people also believe in Christ, but prefer to ignore all the teachings about love and tolerance.

This is a time that the Christian faith should be coming together as a UNITED FRONT to pray for these people. Not show the fractures within the faith.

Surely God would not sacrifice the lives of hundreds of innocent people to cleanse the world of a few people who support a gay sports star? And if the tornado was sent for that purpose (which it wasn’t) why weren’t the people who directly came out in Jason Collins’ support affected?

There needs to be a serious awakening in the Church regarding how we view and interact with society.

I am not here to slam the church or its teachings. But for a long time there has been a particular line of thought regarding homosexuality. And in the modern day and age I think it is drastic. In the past I did think the way the church did about gays. But I became friends with a gay person who works with me, and I can tell you now that he is a far better person than 99% of the population. He has better morals and has a holistic view of society and the world.

For all of the bad things that the Christians have to say about the Muslims and the Hindu’s, they have achieved something that we Christians have not – UNITY. There must be many within Islam and the Hindu church who disagree with certain aspects of their faith, but at the end of the day they come together and ACCEPT that their teachings are law.

I once watched a documentary about Islam and a high ranking cleric came out and said that Muslims are not like the Christians. They live their faith seven days a week as opposed to one. After watching this I was livid and thought that he was being unfair to Christianity.

But how wrong is he? Are the actions of Phelps Jnr and McTernan not proof of this? I bet you these men go into church on Sundays and sit in the front row. They are the first to scream Halleluiah when the word is being proclaimed. They are the loudest to say prayers and join in the signing of hymns vigorously.  And yet they go out and act like this on a non church day.

I am by no means a saint. Far From It! But I ask God every day to help me to live his word and teaching every day. If I can try to follow some of Gods teaching of love and tolerance every day, I have done my bit as a Christian.

God preaches LOVE and TOLERANCE. NOT VENGEANCE. It’s time we as a Christian faith realize this and strive to live everyday with a measure of God’s love. And it’s time for the Phelps Jnr’s and McTernan’s of the world to change their rhetoric.

Mei jua daima kuwa kabla yenu, na vivuli nyuma yako!

The Wonders of the Internet

Disclaimer: This Post May Contain Adult Content 

Salamu

One of the biggest features of my current job is that spend a considerable amount of time on the internet researching stories and writing about technology based news which affects the investment capital or general investment industry. On average I spend 8 hours a day one the net.

But just because I write about a seemingly boring topic doesn’t mean that I am not subjected to other interesting pieces news/information that the internet offers. In fact…has anyone ever stopped to think about what we are actually exposing ourselves to on the internet?

It has most definitely changed the world. Since the dawn of the new millennium there has been a steady flow of users towards being connected to the internet. so much so that we live our lives through it. This has become a major selling point and was the motivation behind Google Street View.

Now Google Street view is a product designed by Google which gives you a first person view of a particular street in the world. Google achieved this by getting Google cars to drive around with cameras on them getting live feeds.

Most of this is done during the day where there is good light..blah blah..blah blah..blah blah. So one would assume that the view that the street car would get would be pretty harmless (provided its during the week that is). Well it is unless you live in Liverpool or the Australian Outback.

A recent drive down the back streets of scousetown revealed a man standing around a corner getting a hand job by a lady of the night (or middle of the day in this case) who is standing a bit away from the man in order to see that they cant be seen by no coppers. What she didn’t account for is the fact that she can only see in front of her and couldn’t see the car coming up behind her. ONLY IN LIVERPOOL MATE. ONLY IN LIVERPOOL. The Aussies took this one step further, a recent trip by a Google street car revealed a couple on an outback road pulling over and having intercourse over the bonnet of the car. The best thing is…the girl doesn’t try to hide her face away…she waves at the camera!

This doesn’t mean that there are only bad things on the internet. There are also some great sources on information and entertainment on the net. One of the best websites that I have come across lately is Buzzfeed, which is a comedic satire on everyday life reflecting on  weird ass lists. It’s a great read but highly addictive.

Below are some of the sites a spend a lot of time on and I consider worthwhile visiting.

www.cnet.com this is one of the best technology based news websites in the world

www.thehuffingtonpost.com this is one of the best general news sites around and is owned by Fox Entertainment so is quality.

www.buzzfeed.com for reasons discussed above.

www.sport24.co.za this is a great sports website for South African sports fans locally and abroad.

www.facebook.com for obvious reasons. Zynga poker is great.

www.freeonlinegames.com a great website for free games and Real Time Pool is highly recommended

It would be great to hear your sites. Let me know and I can visit them and include them in a more in depth review.

Mei jua daima kuwa kabla yenu, na vivuli nyuma yako!