French court rejects 75 percent millionaires' tax

PARIS (Reuters) - France's Constitutional Council on Saturday rejected a 75 percent upper income tax rate to be introduced in 2013 in a setback to Socialist President Francois Hollande's push to make the rich contribute more to cutting the public deficit.

The Council ruled that the planned 75 percent tax on annual income above 1 million euros ($1.32 million) - a flagship measure of Hollande's election campaign - was unfair in the way it would be applied to different households.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the government would redraft the upper tax rate proposal to answer the Council's concerns and resubmit it in a new budget law, meaning Saturday's decision could only amount to a temporary political blow.

While the tax plan was largely symbolic and would only have affected a few thousand people, it has infuriated high earners in France, prompting some such as actor Gerard Depardieu to flee abroad. The message it sent also shocked entrepreneurs and foreign investors, who accuse Hollande of being anti-business.

Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said the rejection of the 75 percent tax and other minor measures could cut up to 500 million euros in forecast tax revenues but would not hurt efforts to slash the public deficit to below a European Union ceiling of 3 percent of economic output next year.

"The rejected measures represent 300 to 500 million euros. Our deficit-cutting path will not be affected," Moscovici told BFM television. He too said the government would resubmit a proposal to raise taxes on high incomes in 2013 and 2014.

The Council, made up of nine judges and three former presidents, is concerned the tax would hit a married couple where one partner earned above a million euros but it would not affect a couple where each earned just under a million euros.

UMP member Gilles Carrez, chairman of the National Assembly's finance commission, told BFM television, however, that the Council's so-called wise men also felt the 75 percent tax was excessive and too much based on ideology.

FRANCE UNDER SCRUTINY

Hollande shocked many by announcing his 75 percent tax proposal out of the blue several weeks into a campaign that some felt was flagging. Left-wing voters were cheered by it but business leaders warned that talent would flee the country.

Set to be a temporary measure until France is out of economic crisis, the few hundred million euros a year the tax was set to raise is a not insignificant sum as the government strives to boost public finances in the face of stalled growth.

Hollande's 2013 budget calls for the biggest belt-tightening effort France has seen in decades and is based on a growth target of 0.8 percent, a level analysts view as over-optimistic.

Fitch Ratings this month affirmed its triple-A rating on France but said there was no room for slippage. Standard & Poor's and Moody's have both stripped Europe's No. 2 economy of its AAA badge due to concern over strained public finances and stalled growth.

The International Monetary Fund recently forecast that France will miss its 3 percent deficit target next year and signs are growing that Paris could negotiate some leeway on the timing of that goal with its EU partners.

The INSEE national statistics institute this week scaled back its reading of a return to growth in the third quarter to 0.1 percent from 0.2 percent, and the government said it could review its 2013 outlook in the next few months.

Saturday's decision was in response to a motion by the opposition conservative UMP party, whose weight in fighting Hollande's policies has been reduced by a leadership crisis that has split it in two seven months after it lost power.

The Constitutional Council is a politically independent body that rules on whether laws, elections and referenda are constitutional.

($1 = 0.7564 euros)

(Reporting by Emile Picy; Writing by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/top-french-court-rejects-75-percent-upper-tax-115449992--business.html

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Fenninger beats Maze; Shiffrin of US 8th in GS

SEMMERING, Austria (AP) ? Anna Fenninger of Austria had two near-perfect runs to win a World Cup giant slalom on Friday, while second-place Tina Maze of Slovenia extended her lead in the overall standings.

In difficult conditions because of snowfall, Fenninger posted the fastest time in both runs on the Panorama course and finished in a combined time of 2 minutes, 13.09 seconds to beat Maze by 1.10. Tessa Worley of France, who was second after the opening run, was third.

American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin, who won her first World Cup race last week, was eighth for the best GS result in her career. She's now 10th in the overall standings.

Shiffrin had several mistakes in her final run but used a blistering second to finish2.68 seconds off Fenninger's winning time.

"I had some energy that run," said Shiffrin, who struggled with a cold. "My energy level has been OK, or maybe I am just telling myself that's OK ? mind over matter ... Hopefully tonight I get a good night of sleep and come out tomorrow (for the slalom) and have some fun."

Shiffrin leads the slalom standings, the first time since 1982 that the U.S. women's team has three racers in the top 10.

Defending overall champion Lindsey Vonn of the United States skipped the race. Vonn, who is fifth in the overall standings, is taking a break from the circuit to fully recover from an intestinal illness.

Fenninger earned her second World Cup victory after claiming a GS on home soil ? in Lienz ? a year ago to the day.

"I was very difficult to free my mind before the start," said Fenninger, who had never led a World Cup race after the first run before. "I tried to tell myself that it's just an ordinary race. I kept repeating that, and it worked."

Fenninger held a 0.90-second margin over Maze going into the final run but refused to hold back and managed to even increase that lead, to the delight of the home crowd.

Maze, who won the first four GS events this season, accepted her defeat.

"I am really happy with my skiing," said Maze, who lost time early in her opening run as she struggled for rhythm in the first flat section. "I lost a lot of time there. I fought until the end but Anna really had a perfect day. She was unbeatable today."

Maze became the first woman skier to earn nine podium finishes in GS within one year, beating the record previously held by Lise-Marie Morerod of Switzerland (1977), Deborah Compagnoni of Italy (1997) and Anita Wachter of Austria (1999).

"It's my skiing that makes me confident, I don't look at the points or the records," the Slovenian said. "I try to prepare each race as well as I can. It's not always perfect but I am a fighter."

Maze finished runner-up to Vonn last season without winning a race. In the first 15 events of this season, Maze won five times and earned five more podium finishes.

She tops the overall standings with 999 points, and is likely to surpass the 1,000-point mark in Saturday's slalom, the last women's race of 2012.

Maze already leads second-place Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany by 417 points. Vonn is fifth, trailing Maze by 585 points.

"It's still a long season, anything can happen," Maze said. "If Lindsey comes back and she wins all the downhills, you never know. I am not calculating. I hope Lindsey returns to the circuit quickly, but of course her health is most important."

The only other racer besides Maze and Fenninger to win a GS this season, Olympic champion Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany, finished 1.91 behind Fenninger in fifth place.

After six of nine events, Maze is a strong favorite to take the discipline title. She leads No. 2 Kathrin Zettel by 198 points, with each victory worth 100 points.

There is one more women's GS scheduled ahead of February's world championships ? in Maribor, Slovenia, on Jan. 26.

The 2006 Olympic champion, Julia Mancuso, finished 25th on Friday, 4.16 seconds behind Fenninger.

"I felt pretty well but somehow the time isn't there," the American said. "I was surprised that I was that far behind. I thought I had a pretty good section."

Mancuso switched her ski supplier in the offseason. Her best result so far in the discipline was sixth on Dec. 16 in Courchevel, France.

"I am better when the snow is really hard," Mancuso said. "I guess these are not quite my conditions."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fenninger-beats-maze-shiffrin-us-8th-gs-160645430--spt.html

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Larklife

The first time I launched the Larklife iPhone app, I thought, "How can an app this well designed and different from the competition go with a gadget that's so clunky and awkward?" Larklife ($149.99, direct) is just one of many fitness-tracking gadgets vying for the attention of consumers who want to be motivated to get moving. And the app could do just that, provided you have an iPhone, because it really does work differently from all the other personal health and wellness programs you'll find. But the wristband that goes with it doesn't compare to the more slender and sophisticated models you'll find in big brand names like Nike and Jawbone. Due to Larklife's lackluster form factor and slightly high price, it sits somewhere in the middle of the fitness gadget pack. It's not bad, but not great, and for less money you can probably find something you'll like better.

For me, the answer is the $100 Fitbit One, our Editors' Choice and one of only a few fitness gadgets that isn't a bracelet, making it easier to conceal when you don't want your friends or a hot date to know you're monitoring your physical activity. The Fitbit costs less than most other devices, works with both a Web app and smartphone app, and connects with a host of other personal health apps and devices.?

More similar to Larkflife are the Nike+ FuelBand and the Jawbone UP. The Jawbone UP fits the most comfortably of the three, although the Nike+ FuelBand at least puts visual data, like the time and your total activity for the day, right on the bracelet itself?neither Larklife nor Jawbone UP do. If I'm going to wear a gadget 24/7, I'd at least like it to tell me the time.

Design
Though a bracelet, Larklife disassembles in a way that I've never seen before in a fitness tracker. Its core component is a small piece of plastic with a strip of LED lights and a single button on the side. That core piece snaps into a plastic bracelet or "day band," as well as a separate and more flexible strap for overnight use to track your sleep. The USB rechargeable battery isn't in the core piece but rather in each band.

The lights serve a couple of purposes, like flashing to remind you to be active or to indicate a function. For example, press the button twice to automatically log when you eat a meal so you don't have to take out your smartphone to record everything you eat during dinner. You can add specifics later, or not.

In wearing Larklife for several days, I got used to it the same way I got used to wearing a wristwatch. I removed it to type and to slide my arms into a fitted jacket. But I didn't like that the blue bracelet called attention to itself. Fitbit One, on the other hand, hides discreetly out of sight on a waistband, bra strap, or even in a pocket (the thing is tiny), giving you more control over who knows you're wearing one.

The Jawbone UP is much smaller and sleeker than Larklife, but in other ways they're extremely similar. Each is designed to be worn on the wrist and only sync via an iOS device (not a computer), although Larklife syncs via Bluetooth whereas Jawbone UP connects via the headphone jack. Both the Jawbone UP and Larklife include silent alarms that vibrate to wake you, as does Fitbit One.

Larklife's Strength: A Simplified App
While the Larklife band may be clunky, its companion iPhone app, where you see all the data the device collects, is decidedly simplified. It has only four categories for logging data?meals, workout, boost, and sleep?and automates some of the recordkeeping for you. If you run or workout vigorously while wearing Larklife, the app automatically records that activity as a workout (although it once thought I worked out when all I did was scurry to catch a train). A "boost," the way the app describes it, could be anything that makes you feel refreshed, from taking a brisk walk or heading to the water cooler for some office gabbing. It can be whatever you want, and I like that Larklife includes it in its data collection. Decreasing stress should be seen as an integral part of wellness.

The band and app sync over Bluetooth, so you always have quick access to the data when your iPhone is nearby. I ended up flipping the Bluetooth off quite often, however, to conserve my phone's battery.

Most of the app display appears in portrait mode. Bubbles relating to each of the four logged activities (meal, workout, boost, sleep) fill up a screen for one day's activity. Drag your finger around the current day's screen, and the bubbles bounce and move around. Turn the phone horizontally, and your day's activity plot onto a bar graph that shows when you were active, total time active (in minutes), calories burned, distance traveled, and your sleep data.

What Larklife captures isn't remarkably different than other fitness gadgets and apps, except for the unique "boost" category, but it does simplify the process of recording. When you enter a meal, for example, the app doesn't ask you to search a massive database of foods for exactly what you've eaten, but rather offers a selection of basic food types?protein, vegetable, fruit, grain, and water?and has you tap the ones you've consumed. Again, the emphasis is more on wellness and thinking positively than getting into the nitty gritty of what you did wrong for the day, although not everyone will agree with this approach. I, for one, learn a lot when I count calories and pay close attention to exactly what I'm eating. I'd rather have a more detailed system than a general one. But it could be appealing for people who want to change their fitness and eating habits in a way that will actually stick.

Better Fitness Through Personal Data
Larklife is a good product but it competes with a few that are better and less expensive. The Fitbit One remains the clear Editors' Choice for its excellent form factor, top-notch data collection, and wonderful companion app for iPhone, Android, and the Web. It also integrates with a host of other apps and gadgets. When you can get all that for $99, Larklife just doesn't seem like it has much appeal.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/y3IS6pRH3oU/0,2817,2413317,00.asp

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Santa delivers Christmas gifts to stingrays (Americablog)

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Home prices rose in ninth straight month: S&P

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Single-family home prices rose in October for nine months in a row, reinforcing the view the domestic real estate market is improving and should bolster the economy in 2013, a closely watched survey showed on Wednesday.

The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.7 percent in October on a seasonally adjusted basis, stronger than the 0.5 percent rise forecast by economists polled by Reuters.

"Looking over this report, and considering other data on housing starts and sales, it is clear that the housing recovery is gathering strength," David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's, said in a statement.

While record low mortgage rates and modest job growth should keep the housing recovery on track, analysts cautioned home prices face downward pressure from a likely pickup in the sales of foreclosed and distressed properties and reduced buying investors and speculators.

Prices in the 20 cities rose 4.3 percent year over year, beating expectations for a rise of 4.0 percent.

Las Vegas posted the biggest monthly rise on a seasonally adjusted basis at 2.4 percent, followed by a 1.7 percent increase in San Diego, the latest Case-Shiller data showed.

"Higher year-over-year price gains plus strong performances in the Southwest and California, regions that suffered during the housing bust, confirm that housing is now contributing to the economy," Blitzer said.

Housing contributed 10 percent to the overall U.S. economic growth in the third quarter, while the sector represented less than 3 percent of gross domestic product, he said.

Last week, the government said U.S. GDP expanded at a stronger-than-expected 3.1 percent annualized pace in the third quarter.

Excluding seasonal factors, however, home prices in 12 of the 20 cities fell in October from September as home values tend to decline in fall and winter, Blitzer said.

Chicago experienced the largest non-seasonally adjusted decline at 1.5 percent, followed by a 1.4 percent fall in Boston.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/home-prices-rose-october-p-140523488--business.html

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US Treasury to take steps to avoid debt ceiling

11 hrs.

From wire services , NBC News

WASHINGTON --?The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday announced the first of a series of measures to delay hitting the government's $16.4 trillion borrowing limit. Without those steps, the debt ceiling?would be hit on Dec. 31.?

The government is facing a crunch on the debt ceiling because the issue has become ensnarled in talks to avoid some $600 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts due to begin in early January. Failing to raise the debt ceiling could cause the government to default on its debt.

To cut government spending and delay bumping up against the debt ceiling, the Treasury will suspend issuance of state and local government series securities -- known as "slugs" -- beginning on Dec.?28.

Investments in a government employee pension fund will also be suspended, along with some other measures, although Treasury did not give dates for when these other measures will begin.

"These extraordinary measures ... can create approximately $200 billion in headroom under the debt limit," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wrote in a letter to congressional leaders.

Normally, these measures would buy the Treasury about two months time before hitting the debt ceiling, Geithner said in the letter. But a series of planned tax hikes and spending cuts due to take effect in early January could give Treasury further time if they take effect as scheduled, he said.

"Treasury will provide more guidance regarding the expected duration of these measures when the policy outlook becomes clearer," he said.

The instruments known as slugs are special low-interest Treasury securities offered to state and local governments to temporarily invest proceeds from municipal bond sales. They have been suspended several times over the last 20 years to avoid hitting the debt ceiling.

Many analysts believe the measures available to the Treasury can stave that date off into late February.

The U.S. Congress typically authorizes government borrowing in a two-stage process, first drafting plans to spend more than it raises in tax revenues. Every few years, it raises a limit on government borrowing to accommodate annual deficits, a process that this year has become ensnared by the contentious budget talks in Washington.?

Information from the Associated Press and Reuters was included in this report.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/us-treasury-take-steps-avoid-hitting-debt-ceiling-monday-1C7662780

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RolePlayGateway?

This page is for the characters with combative prowess. Please list and detail your character's current stats and skills for all to see so that there is no confusion as to the capabilities and performance limitations to which they are governed. To give the example and to get it out of the way, I am posting Shadow's "strengths" first so that you all can analyze it and provide the same listed strengths as I provide, albeit in accordance with your own character and not mine. This page will be updated as the RP progresses whenever training periods come and go, or when certain battles are over and/or new weaponry or clothing is acquired (and yes, clothing can make a difference). So please do check back regularly and make changes whenever appropriate.

Thank you!

So, here we go!

Shadow

Shadow's body to arm ratio: Shadow is 6' 0" tall, however, his arm span is slightly longer a 6' 1". This means that Shadow has a longer reach than most men who are 6', as their arm length will typically be less than their height which gives him an advantage in combat against men of his size or within a two to three inch margin.

Shadow's weight: Shadow weighs approximately 190 to 200 lbs of raw, lean muscle which is above average for one of his size. The average body weight for a healthy young man at 6' is approximately 170 lbs. That extra thirty pounds makes him deceptively powerful thanks to his lean frame which disguises the true depths of his power.

Shadow's reaction time: Shadow's reaction time is 120 milliseconds +/- 5 milliseconds depending on the number of distractions in his immediate area. The average healthy and active human being's reaction time is about 250-300 milliseconds. I think you can do the rough math on that one. Lol.

Shadow's clothing: Shadow's jacket weighs about two pounds and is black leather. His vambracesare coated with Orichalcum, and weigh twenty pounds each. He wears black gloves as well which have Orichalcum coverings across each finger for protection when he punches hard surfaces. These coverings weigh about a pound each, for a total of five pounds on each hand. Shadow's shirt is lightweight and flexible, as are his pants which are held up by a belt which weighs no more than a pound. Shadow's boots have Orichalcum toes and souls, each one weighing about a total of about ten pounds. His greaves weigh thirty pounds each, and are also coated in Orichalcum. When combining the weight of all of the Orichalcum he wears, coupled with his two Orichalcum daggers which weigh forty pounds each, Shadow is wearing a total of approximately three hundred and twenty pounds of extra weight.

This means that Shadow, at any one time when he's fully dressed and prepared for combat, weighs in excess of four hundred pounds. This makes him comparable to a human tank, being almost immovable thanks to the weight of the Orichalcum covering his body. Add in the fact that all this weight does very little to slow him down because of how long he's worn it and trained in it, and you'll start to see just how strong Shadow really is.

Shadow's speed: Some of the fastest boxers on Earth today can only get in about six to seven punches per second when they really go or it, and even then they're cutting their punches short by not retracting them all the way back to the waist. Shadow can punch from the waist about eight times in a single second, and that is when he pulls his fists all the way back to his waist each time. No short punches here.

On the same note, Shadow can kick at over 90 mph, +/- 5 mph, when he really goes for it. To give some perspective, the fastest competitive martial artists alive today kick about 70 mph with a "flick kick", which is to say that they kick for speed and not for power. The impact of a 90+ mph kick, when coupled with Shadow's strength, can literally decapitate a human being inside their own body by severing the skull from the spinal chord. Though it does not break the skin or muscles in the neck, the fact that the skull is removed from the spine defines it as a decapitation.

Shadow's eyesight: Shadow's eyes are more suited to nighttime, which is why his vision at night is 20/5 and his vision in the day is 20/10. Obviously, this has to do with the fact that his eyes are red and can glow, but I won't divulge the secret to that yet.

That's about it! Whenever you have the time, please provide the same overall stats for your character to show us where they stand and what they can do. Obviously there are some liberties taken with these stats, so don't feel completely limited by "reality". Though this RP is going to be as realistic as possible, this pertains primarily to the laws of physics, and not the limitations of the human body which is why Shadow is so strong. Have at it!

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/RolePlayGateway

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