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Wednesday, 032713

In the know on current events from Marketplace

The Supreme Court is currently presiding over United States vs Windsor-where Edith Windsor had to pay a real estate tax after the death of her partner. This does not happen for married couples because of the unlimited marital deduction.  Edith Windsor believes she and her partner should have had the same rights. There are considerable financial benefits of marriage and same sex couples want these benefits. Not having their unions recognized as marriage costs extra money for same sex couples in a myriad of ways from insurance to tax deductions. The Supreme Court will be determining whether the Defense of Marriage act is unconstitutional.  Depending on the outcome, financial benefits could be extended to same sex couples residing in nine states that recognize and allow for gay marriage.

Panera bread is allowing people to pay what they want for select food items and then the money goes to hunger relief charity. 60% pay the recommended amount, 20% pay more, 20% pay less or nothing.  This charity program allows Panera bread customers the opportunity to do the right thing, like giving to a charity and they can then do so through Panera Bread.  

Banks in Cyprus have reopened after a two week closure following the financial meltdown and bailout. Cyprus was long known as a destination for money launderers and being involved in the  sandwich business. Due to the crisis and taxation following the bailout in Cyprus, money launderers may be avoiding this tax shelter and looking to others instead. Tax evasion often ends up in Swiss accounts, the Caribbean isles, London and Frankfurt, Germany. 

Internet surfing may be somewhat sluggish this week because…currently there is a cyberspat going on: two companies are squabbling. Cyberbunker and Spamhaus. Spamhaus is a volunteer run non-profit, self appointed internet spam police has accused Cyberbunker of including spammers in its net.  So Cyberbunker is on the defense and reportedly retaliating by attacking the architecture of the Internet by sending out immense amounts of disguised data. Figuring out who's to blame when internet surfing slows down, though, is next to impossible.

In twenty five years 1 billion people will be living in Chinese cities.  Population of Chinese cities is growing because of a government urbanization program.  But life and work in Chinese cities can be monotonous and overwhelming, so…some young Chinese adults are bucking this trend and are moving back to rural china for personal peace and fulfillment.  This relocation allows them access to creative types and an entrepreneurial spirit.  Many are starting their own businesses.

Dodger stadium is undergoing a restoration. The architect in charge of the renovation (a female, Janet Marie Smith) wants to make the stadiums more family friendly.

Government has discussed cutting costs by furloughing employees. But this may be too hard to schedule, so some offices, such as the Housing Department, will just close an entire department for a week or more between now and August 30th.