Analysis of news and views - from all fields of human interest across the globe - with a view to highlight and promote information useful for human enlightenment and development.
"The first person to be filleted in this matter was Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), the speaker of the House. He was averse to Donald Trump, but he subordinated the larger agenda of opposing an anti-democratic president to a smaller agenda of tax cuts and regulatory reform. Ryan would make a splendid president of any chamber of commerce.
The other leaders have been similarly de-spined. They chortle among themselves as Trump says in the morning that he will veto this bill or that bill, and in the afternoon signs it. They say nothing about the rhetorical mugging of Mexico or his long-held and mysterious adulation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. They stay silent while being soaked in a rain of lies, dignity running off them and splashing into the Washington gutter."
Said: Edward D. Kleinbard, a former corporate tax adviser to such companies who is now a law
professor at the University of Southern California, as reported in The New York Times by Jesse Drucker and Simon Bowers.
The report titled "After a Tax Crackdown, Apple Found a New Shelter for Its Profits" is based on the secret corporate records (Paradise Papers) from Appleby, a Bermuda-based law firm that caters to businesses and the wealthy elite.
"These documents reveal how big law firms help clients weave their way through the gaps between different countries’ tax rules. Appleby clients have transferred trademarks, patent rights and other valuable assets into offshore shell companies, avoiding billions of dollars in taxes. The rights to Nike’s Swoosh trademark, Uber’s taxi-hailing app, Allergan’s Botox patents and Facebook’s social media technology have all resided in shell companies that listed as their headquarters Appleby offices in Bermuda and Grand Cayman, the records show," says the article.
“U.S. multinational firms are the global grandmasters of tax avoidance schemes that deplete not just U.S. tax collection but the tax collection of most every large economy in the world.”
The above quote in the article comes from a lawyer Edward D. Kleinbard who, the article says, has worked as a corporate tax adviser to such companies in their tax avoidance management. Isn't it interesting that this lawyer is now a law professor at the University of Southern California? His profile page says: "Kleinbard received his JD from Yale Law School, and his MA in History and BA in Medieval and Renaissance Studies from Brown University. Kleinbard was for over 20 years a partner in the New York office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. " You can watch Kleinbard deliver "Searching for our Fiscal Soul" at TEDX Livermore on Youtube.
Said: Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway 2000 shareholder letter. When asked for his views on bitcoin several years ago on CNBC, headviced:"Stay away from it. It's a mirage, basically." During the interview published on 14 Mach, 2014 on CNBC, Buffet said the following about the cryptocurrency.
"It's a method of transmitting money. It's a very effective way of transmitting money and you can do it anonymously and all that. A check is a way of transmitting money, too. Are checks worth a whole lot of money just because they can transmit money? Are money orders? You can transmit money by money orders. People do it. I hope bitcoin becomes a better way of doing it, but you can replicate it a bunch of different ways and it will be. The idea that it has some huge intrinsic value is just a joke in my view."
Said: Brian Wieser,
a Senior Analyst - Advertising/Media/Internet with Pivotal Research, reported
in nytimes
in an article “For Murdoch Empire, Perhaps a Decisive Point in Relationship
to Trump,” by Emily
Steel.
The article presents an analysis of James Murdoch’s personal
email message to his friends denouncing racism, anti-Semitism, white supremacy
and neo-Nazis. James also used some tough words for the president criticising
him for his response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va. Trump's response -
sympathetic to white supremacists and neo-Nazis has created a worst crisis for
him at the already shaky White House.
Analysts are trying to assess the
possibility of any impact James' letter may have on the reporting formula of
Fox News for Mr. Trump.
Said : Scott Adams of ‘Dilbert’ fame about Donald Trump whom he had been supporting until last month.
According toWashington Post, Adams, switched his endorsement from Hillary Clinton to Trump last month, and then again to Gary Johnson this month after the “Access Hollywood” tape’s release.
Michael Cavna in his post tries to analyse "why Scott Adams - who was long seen as a truth-telling champion of the beleaguered cubicle dweller - risked his reputation by sparking controversy in the election."
"Adams has repeatedly stated that the White House was Trump’s to lose, predicting a “landslide” victory. According to Adams, who is a trainer in persuasion techniques and hypnosis, Donald Trump was “a master persuader” — a man who knew how to stay expertly on message", Cavna noted Adams, in his blog, under a post titled "The Crook Versus the Monster."
Adams feels that "reality isn’t a factor in this election, as per usual." This is based on his observation that if the truth mattered, voters might care about the real issues and characteristics of their favoured candidate. They have a kind of illusion about their leaders.
For example, "we think the people on the other side can’t see the warts on their own candidate. But I think they do. Clinton supporters know she is crooked, but I think they assume it is a normal degree of crookedness for an American politician. Americans assume that even the “good” politicians are trading favors and breaking every rule that is inconvenient to them. I’ve never heard a Clinton supporter defend Clinton as being pure and honest. Her supporters like her despite her crookedness."
"Thanks to timely assists from Wikileaks, Trump has successfully framed Hillary Clinton as a crooked politician. Meanwhile, Clinton has successfully framed Trump as a dangerous monster. If the mainstream polls are accurate, voters prefer the crook to the monster. That makes sense because a crook might steal your wallet but the monster could kill you. As of today, Clinton has the superior persuasion strategy. Crook beats monster." - Scott Adams
Similarly, "Trump supporters know what they are getting. They know he’s offensive. They know he’s under-informed on policies. They know he pays as little in taxes as possible. They know he uses bankruptcy laws when needed. They know he ignores facts that are inconvenient to his message. They just don’t care. They want to push the monster into Washington D.C., close the door, and let him break everything that needs to be broken. Demolition is usually the first step of building something new. And Trump also knows how to build things when he isn’t in monster mode," he added.
In yet another post Adams compares the leadership qualities of Jesus, Martin Luther King, Abe Lincoln, Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela. "None were bully leaders, and none encouraged their supporters to be bullies. So what did they do that worked so well? "I’ll tell you what. They described a better version of ourselves and let us find a way to it," he answered himself and went on comparing Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump for their leadership qualities.
Adams has confessed that he had to pay a heavy price for his apparent support for Donald Trump. “My speaking career (his once-lucrative side business) ended because of this and licensing sales are down," he revealed to Cavna who reported "All told, Adams said, his income has dipped precipitously." But Adams regrets none of it.
Said : Martin Lundstedt, president and CEO of Volvo Group in an interview with China Daily.
Swedish automobile conglomerate Volvo's CEO sees 'super opportunity' in China's e-commerce boom. He has been a believer of a fun workplace during his 24-year career in the commercial vehicle industry. Martin was unfazed despite the current downward pressure in China's economic growth. "We've a very thrilling vision about the future, for we are seeing very positive changes," he said in the interview.
Martin Lundstedt, president and CEO of Volvo Group. [Photo provided to China Daily]
According to Martin, the government's growing emphasis on green initiatives, sustainable development and innovation are all bringing great opportunities for his company. In China for more than 20 years, the manufacturer of vehicles, engines and construction equipment now hopes to better tap into the country's booming e-commerce business.
For reading the edited excerpts from the interview, please click here.
Timothy Wingerter
According to Timothy Wingerter, who works at Quora, Volvo Cars, which has a global market share of only 1–2%, has been separate from its former Swedish parent company Volvo Group since 1999, and is now owned by a Chinese company. "Volvo Car Group (Volvo Cars) has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely Holding) of China since 2010. Volvo Cars formed part of the Swedish Volvo Group until 1999, when the company was bought by Ford Motor Company. In 2010, Volvo Cars was acquired by Geely Holding," he wrote on Quora.
Volvo Cars still has manufacturing facilities in Sweden and several other locations, including China. "Apart from the main car production plants in Gothenburg (Sweden) and Ghent (Belgium), Volvo Cars has since the 1930s manufactured engines in Skövde (Sweden). Production of body components has been located in Olofström (Sweden) since 1969. The company furthermore operates an assembly plant in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and a research and development center in Copenhagen (Denmark). Finally, Volvo has design centers in Gothenburg (Sweden), Camarillo (USA) and Shanghai (China)", he added.
In the fourth quarter of 2013, Volvo Cars started serial production at its manufacturing plant in Chengdu, China. This plant produces Volvo cars for the Chinese and US markets. A second manufacturing plant in Daqing, China started production in the second half of 2014, while Volvo Cars also has an engine factory in Zhangjiakou, China. In the US, Volvo Cars is building a manufacturing facility in Berkeley County, South Carolina, which will become operational in the second half of 2018. This is Volvo Car Group.
