Tax Haven

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It is a well-known fact that investment taxes differ from bank to bank and from countries to countries. In Ancient Greece (circa 400bC), for instance, some of the Greek Islands were used as depositories by the sea traders of the era to place their foreign goods to thus avoid the two-percent tax imposed by the city-state of Athens on imported goods.

The avoidance of the Cinque ports (coastal towns established in 1155 for military and trade purposes in Kent and Sussex at the eastern end of the English Channel) in order not to pay the taxes to the English Crown illustrate very well the human historical need for maximize return on investments.

Basically a Tax Haven is the place in which certain taxes are imposed either at a low rate or not at all. It is the place where investors always want to go in order to reduce their tax rates.

There are some specific characteristics as being identified by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (the OECD) to decide the tax structure of any nation to be denoted as Tax Haven. These are:

- Regarding the situations when there is either payment of no/only nominal taxes. In special cases, Tax Haven creates such conditions to offer themselves as shelters for the non-residents to evade high taxes in their respective residential countries.

- Tax Haven generally emphasizes protecting the personal financial information of the taxpayers. They have specific laws for the benefit of corporate houses and individuals that can protect them from the scrutiny and other strict laws of the foreign tax authorities.

However, there occurs a lack of transparency in the functioning of the different provisions of the Tax Haven. As per the OECD, the tax laws should be open and consistent such that any information on the individual taxpayer required by the foreign tax authorities is easily available. The OECD decides whether every jurisdiction can be allowed to impose direct taxes and to determine the required tax rate.

Among the oldest Tax Haven in the world stands the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. As per the modern concept of Tax Haven, Bermuda is the first Tax Haven creating the first offshore tax companies of Conyers Dill and Pearman. This view is contested as according to some the first Tax Haven in its truest sense was Switzerland and then Liechtenstein. Nevertheless, the emersion of the modern Tax Haven is difficult to decide.

The U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research has suggested that roughly 15% of countries in the world are tax havens, that these countries tend to be small and affluent, and that better governed and regulated countries are more likely to become tax havens, and are more likely to be successful if they become tax havens.

Places regarded as tax havens:

- Andorra – No personal income tax.

- Anguilla – A British Overseas Territory and offshore banking centre

- Antigua and Barbuda

- Aruba

- The Bahamas levies neither personal income nor capital gains tax, nor are there inheritance taxes.

- Barbados – A 'Low-tax regime' not 'Tax haven'. – The government of Barbados sent off a high level note to members of the United States Congress recently in protest of the label "Tax Haven" stating it has the potential to undermine or override the Barbados/United States double taxation agreement. Since appearing on the 2009 OECD/G-20 white-list, the Barbados government began an international ad-campaign to market the country as the only Caribbean country to be included on the white-list.

- Belize – No capital gains tax.

- Bermuda does not levy income tax on foreign earnings, and allows foreign companies to incorporate there under an "exempt" status. Companies are "exempt" from the local 60/40 ownership laws, and are not offered any special tax status. Exempt companies are also limited from doing local trade and may not hold real estate in Bermuda, nor may they be involved in banking, insurance, assurance, reinsurance, fund management or similar business, such as investment advice, without a license. The island also maintains a stable, clean reputation in the business world. At present, there are no benefits for individuals. In fact, for a non-Bermudian to own a house on the island, they would have to pay a foreign ownership tax of 25% of the purchase value, and minimum of $15,000 a year in land tax alone. They also can only purchase homes of a specific type and high value (over $4 million), so the tax is generally greater than $1 million.

- Bosnia and Herzegovina – 10% corporate income tax, 10% income tax, 10% capital gain tax

- British Virgin Islands: the 2000 KPMG report to the United Kingdom government indicated that the British Virgin Islands was the domicile for approximately 41% of the world's offshore companies, making it by some distance the largest offshore jurisdiction in the world by volume of incorporations. The British Virgin Islands has, so far, avoided the scandals which have tainted less well regulated offshore jurisdictions.

- Bulgaria – 10% corporate income tax, 10% income tax, 10% capital gain tax

- Campione d'Italia an Italian enclave within Switzerland

- Cayman Islands

- In the Channel Islands, no tax is paid by corporations or individuals on foreign income and gains. Non-residents are not taxed on local income. Local taxation is at a fixed rate of 20% in Jersey, Guernsey, & Alderney and 0% in Sark.

- Cook Islands

- Cyprus: this jurisdiction has grown recently in popularity and anticipates further future growth. As a jurisdiction Cyprus is in a position to exploit its unusual position as an offshore jurisdiction which is within the EU. 10% corporate tax (0% for shipping companies), 20 - 30% income tax, 20% CGT

- State of Delaware a State in the USA which charges no income tax on corporations not operating within the state,

- Egypt – 20% corporate income tax, 20% income tax, No capital gain tax

- Gibraltar is no longer considered a non-cooperative tax haven since 30 June 2006. No new Exempt Company certificates are being issued from that date. All previous Exempt Company certificates will be ineffective from 2010.

- Hong Kong's tax rates are low (16.5%) enough that it can be considered a tax haven. Hong Kong does not levy tax on capital gain as well. However, it contains a highly vibrant service economy and its low taxes were not designed to make Hong Kong a tax haven. Hong Kong itself has usually rejected the label. The former financial secretary, Nicholas Haddon-Cave has asserted: "In Hong Kong we rely on our low tax structure and free movements across exchanges to encourage investment, and not on the usual gimmicks of tax holidays and quick write-offs found in tax havens."

- The Isle of Man does not charge corporation tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax or wealth tax. Personal income tax is levied at 10–20% on the worldwide income of Isle of Man residents, up to a maximum tax liability of £115,000 (as of April 2010). Banking income tax is levied on the profits of Isle of Man based banks at 10% and income from the rent of Isle of Man property is levied at the same rate.

- Labuan, a Malaysian island off Borneo

- Kuwait

- Macau - Corporate tax rates between 9-12%. Personal Income tax rates between 5-12%. No capital gains tax. No tax for companies operating "off shore". The overwhelming majority of the Macanese gov't taxes are derived from a hefty casino tax of 39%. All Macanese Residents (Temporary and Permanent) are entitled to an annual cash handout from the gov't of MOP3600 or MOP6000 (Approx. $450 USD/ $750USD).

- Mauritius – based front companies of foreign investors are used to avoid paying taxes in India utilising loopholes in the bilateral agreement on double taxation between the two countries, with the tacit support of the Indian government, who are keen to improve figures relating to inward investment. The use of Mauritius as a gateway to funnel foreign investments into India has always been controversial. Mauritius's financial regime has a number of the key characteristics of a tax haven, which has helped to facilitate this.

- Republic of Macedonia – corporate taxes 10%, income taxes 10%, tax on reinvestment profit 0%

- Monaco does not levy a personal income tax.

- Nauru – No taxes. Only tax in country is an airport departure tax.

- Netherlands Antilles – In October 2008 the State Secretary of Finance announced that the Netherlands Antilles along with the Isle of Man would begin to seek ways to combat the 'Tax Haven ' label that has been placed on their territory by some governments. The leaders hinted they would welcome a more level playing field in terms of the international financial services industry.[33]

- Nevis

- New Zealand does not tax foreign income derived by NZ trusts settled by foreigners of which foreign residents are the beneficiaries. Nor does it tax the foreign income of new residents for four years.[34] No capital gains tax.

- Norfolk Island – no personal income tax.

- Panama 'Offshore' entities are not prohibited from carrying on business activities in Panama, other than banks with International or Representation Licenses (see Offshore Business Sectors) but will be taxed on income arising from domestic trading, and will need to segregate such trading in their accounts.

- Russia – 13% personal income tax

- Samoa

- San Marino

- Saudi Arabia

- Seychelles

- St Kitts and Nevis

- St Vincent and the Grenadines

- Switzerland is a tax haven for foreigners who become resident after negotiating the amount of their income subject to taxation with most of the cantons of Switzerland in which they intend to live. Typically taxable income is assumed to be five times the accommodation rental paid. French-speaking Vaud is the most popular canton for this scheme, thus it is usually called "forfait fiscal" (tax package). For businesses, the canton of Zug is popular, with over 6000 holding companies.

- Turks and Caicos Islands The attraction of the Exempt Company lies in a combination of its tax exempt status and minimal disclosure and administrative requirements. In order to obtain tax exempt status the subscribers must at the time of incorporation lodge at the Companies Registry a signed declaration stating that the business of the company will be mainly carried on outside the Turks and Caicos Islands. The subscribers are not required to inform the Registrar of the identity of the beneficial owners. An exempt company must nominate a representative resident in the Islands for the purpose of service of legal process. There are more than 15,000 International Business Companies registered in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

- Ukraine – 15% income tax

- United Arab Emirates for individuals and Jebel Ali Free Zone for companies.

- United States Virgin Islands offers a 90% exemption from U.S. income taxes and 100% exemption from all other taxes and customs duties to certain qualified taxpayers.

- United Kingdom no Capital Gains Tax for non-residents or foreign corporations or overseas Trusts, no worldwide taxation for non domiciles

- Vanuatu's Financial Services commissioner announced in May 2008 that his country would reform its laws so as to cease being a tax haven. "We've been associated with this stigma for a long time and we now aim to get away from being a tax haven."

Former tax havens:

- Beirut formerly had a reputation as the only tax haven in the Middle East. However, this changed after the Intra Bank crash of 1966,[36] and the subsequent political and military deterioration of Lebanon dissuaded foreign use as a tax haven.

- Liberia had a prosperous ship registration industry. The series of violent and bloody civil wars in the 1990s and early 2000s severely damaged confidence in the jurisdiction. The fact that the ship registration business still continues is partly a testament to its early success, and partly a testament to moving the national Shipping Registry to New York City.

- Tangier had a brief but colorful existence as a tax haven in the period between the end of effective control by the Spanish in 1945 until it was formally reunited with Morocco in 1956.

In the map below, Blemya selected 50 financial centers or 50 countries suspected of tax practices more or less doubtful according to the methodology shown in the “Le Mond” article, considering the crossed definitions as follows:

- From the OECD

- Definitions of Chambost Edward, an internationally renowned expert in offshore locations.

Definitions of Gregory Duhamel, French tax lawyer, author of guides on tax havens.

The level of transparency of the 50 tax havens identified is evaluated taking into consideration the criteria extracted from the OECD reports, "For equal conditions, " Global Forum on Taxation 2007.

* Countries with strong banking secrecy laws but involved in automatic exchange of information in the context of the EU directive on investments, and also three other countries with bank secrecy a little less strict, but also signatories to this sort of agreement, They are: Aruba, Cayman Islands Montserrat.

Civil society groups at the World Social Forum in Dakar launched a campaign on February 8, 2011 to end financial secrecy in tax havens by multinationals they say deprive developing countries of enormous sums of money.

"Very few people are aware that developing countries lose more money through tax dodging than they receive in aid. It is really important to make the link between tax and development," said Mariana Paoli of London-based group Christian Aid.

The group joined Oxfam, the Tax Justice Network Africa and others in calling on the G20 group of leading economies to end financial secrecy in tax havens.

The groups estimate tax losses in developing countries at more than 125 billion Euros ($170 billion) per year, "more than the total budget for development assistance, while the economic crisis leads to significant budget cuts and millions of children still lack access to education."

Post Scarcity Society – Prosperous Civilization

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The problem of watching science fiction movies is that once the film ends you have to get back to your own bad reality. I never get tired to hear the memorable movie quotes and lines of dialogue, from Star Trek for example, when they say, “we live in a society free from poverty”.

I remember specially this line of Star Trek The Next Generation when Counselor Deanna Troi explain to Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain):

Counselor Troi: “Poverty was eliminated on Earth, a long time ago. And a lot of other things disappeared with it - hopelessness, despair, cruelty...”

Mark Twain: “Young lady, I come from a time when men achieve power and wealth by standing on the backs of the poor, where prejudice and intolerance are commonplace and power is an end unto itself. And you're telling me that isn't how it is anymore?”

Counselor Troi: That's right.

Will we be able to say that in the future?

May be Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens (born 18 January 1938) would help us. Giddens is a British sociologist who is renowned for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent modern contributors in the field of sociology, the author of at least 34 books, published in at least 29 languages. Baron Giddens, uses "post-scarcity" to refer to a set of trends he sees in modern industrialized nations, such as an increased focus on "life politics" and a decreased focus on productivity and economic growth. Giddens acknowledges that the term has also been used historically to mean a literal end of scarcity.

Post scarcity or post-scarcity describes a hypothetical form of economy or society, in which things such as goods, services and information are free, or practically free. This would be due to an abundance of fundamental resources (matter, energy and intelligence), in conjunction with sophisticated automated systems capable of converting raw materials into finished goods, allowing manufacturing to be as easy as duplicating software.

Even without postulating new technologies, it might be true that today there is already enough energy, raw materials and biological resources on Earth to provide a comfortable lifestyle for every person on earth, but even a hypothetical political or economic system that was able to achieve an egalitarian distribution of goods would generally not be termed a "post-scarcity society" unless the production of goods was sufficiently automated that virtually no labor was required by anyone (although it is usually assumed there would still be plenty of voluntary creative labor, like a writer creating a novel or a software engineer working on open-source software). This is a key difference between the most common post-scarcity vision and other utopian visions.

When we reach the status of a Post Scarcity Society the human race will eventually realize the insane extravagance of throwing away a single item. (read also my article http://blemya.blogspot.com/2007/09/globalizao-e-conscincia-coletiva.html ) . The way we treat our trash says much of how evolved we are.

If we want to take the next step towards a Non-Waste Society here goes some good ideas to consider:

Trash Powered Car - Gasification Plasma – as in Back to the future “Mr Fusion”

As Deanna Troy, Doc Emmett Brown impressed me in Back to The Futre. He’d modded the Delorean to run on garbage.

Nowadays, Jim Mason did the same.

The technology? - gasification - and is running his '89 Honda Accord on garbage ... or biomass, if you prefer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XPH3fV1Fd4&feature=related

Plasma, often referred to as the “fourth state of matter”, is the term given to a gas that has become ionized. An ionized gas is one where the atoms of the gas have lost one or more electrons and have become electrically charged. The sun and lightning are examples of plasma in nature. Man made Plasma is formed by passing an electrical discharge though a gas such as air or oxygen. The interaction of the electric discharge and the process gas causes the temperature of the gas to increase significantly often exceeding 5,500°C (10,000°F), nearly as hot as the sun’s surface.

What is Plasma Gasification?

Gasification is a process that converts carbon-containing materials, such as coal, petroleum coke, municipal solid waste, or biomass, into a synthesis gas, (syngas), composed primarily of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.Gasification occurs when a carbon-containing feedstock is exposed to elevated temperatures and/or pressures in the presence of controlled amounts of oxygen.

St. Lucie County, Florida (GeoPlasma)

The first plasma-based waste disposal system in the USA was announced in 2006 in St. Lucie County, Florida. The county stated that it hopes to not only avoid further landfill, but completely empty its existing landfill — 4,300,000 short tons (3,900,000 t) of waste collected since 1978 — within 18 years. The plant was scheduled to come into operation in 2009. However, no permits as yet have been submitted for construction. Backers have announced that the facility would produce 600 short tons (540,000 kg) of solid rubble from around 3,000 short tons (2,700,000 kg) of waste per day at 5,500 °C (9,900 °F). Uncertainties have arisen however regarding the safety of such a facility. The public and environmental threats from incinerators coupled with the uncertainty of the community's ability to produce such large quantities of waste consistently have led GeoPlasma to submit a new proposal for a much smaller facility that would convert 200 short tons (180 t) of waste per day.

Out of the trash with art

As old alchemists, we could obtain gold from trash. One man is doing more than that. Edouard Martinet (1963) is capable of turning mounds of disgusting garbage into beautiful peaces of art. Martinet was born in Le Mans, France in he studied art at ESAG, Paris and graduated in 1988. From 1992 to 1995 he lived in Charente before moving to his current location in Rennes where he teaches art at L'Institut des Arts Appliques. He uses a series of common metallic objects that could be considered trash, such as old typewriters, car lights, rusted kitchen pans, etc, to create intricate and outstanding sculptures.

Challenge your creativity

Based on Edouard Martinet art try to create a frog out of an umbrella.

I did mine with peaces of an umbrella and two spoons. Take a look.

Good Luck

The difference between a phenomenal successful product and a tragic flop

The Apple iPad, was launched in the stores of US market in Apr. 3rd.Undoubtedly one of the most hyped launch in technology history. IPad could revolutionize computing and media market or it could be a flop.

Apple's Steve Jobs is known for his wizardry in the new-gadget department, but if the iPad is a flop it won't be Apple's first bomb. In the year 2000 the company introduced Power Mac G4 Cube. The diminutive 8" x 8" x 8" cube, suspended in a 10" tall Acrylic (PMMA) enclosure, housed a PowerPC G4 processor running at 450 or 500 megahertz, and had an unconventional vertical slot-loading DVD-ROM or CD-RW drive.

Apple targeted the Cube at the market between the iMac G3 and the Power Mac G4. Despite its innovative design, critics complained that it was too expensive. It was initially priced US$200 higher than Power Mac G4 at the time (450 MHz CPU, 64 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive) and did not include a monitor, thus leading to slow sales. Additionally, early Cubes suffered from a manufacturing issue that led to faint lines in the clear plastic case. This was often considered damaging to the aesthetic quality of the computer. Almost one decade before that, Apple launched Newton and the Message Pad. The MessagePad was the precursor to the modern PDA and ran on Apple's Newton operating system. Both innovations were meant to make consumers' lives easier, but they were, in fact, too complicated for many to use with ease. As result, Apple gave up of them in 1998.

Now, put yourself into Steve Jobs shoes. You’ve created a brand new product; people around you are crazy about it; you put it into the market and it suddenly became a huge success. The first month is a promising one; and then, the sales stopped abruptly. What happened?

The most difficult step is making the transition between visionaries (early adopters) and pragmatists (early majority). This is the chasm that Geoffrey Moore refers to in his 1991 book “Crossing the Chasm”.

Geoffrey A Moore presented the view that successful companies shrink the chasm between early adopters of products and the early majority by: choosing target markets, understanding the whole product concept, positioning the product, building marketing strategies and choosing appropriate distribution channels and pricing. Today, those are basic elements in most companies.

The 2004 CPAS – (Comparative Practices Assessment Study) - report found the average cycle time for a new product is only 104 weeks, down from 181 weeks in 1995. At the same time, new product line cycle time has more than halved, down from 126 to 62 weeks over the same period. It’s critical that organizations develop processes that enable rapid alignment of product development efforts with changing strategy for maximum agility.

The creation of a central repository of product planning information is a critical first step. This repository must form the ‘single source of truth’ for every product in the portfolio and include key information on:

* Strategic fit/alignment
* Product stakeholders and team
* Product goals and benefits
* Risk factors
* Lifecycle status
* Resource requirements
* Program schedule
* Budgeted costs
* Status and actual costs

This information must be available to the entire cross-functional product team, allowing stakeholders and management to view information across all products. This global view provides them with a uniform and objective analysis of product attractiveness and performance, and allows them to make informed, strategic decisions.

Strategic alignment must be considered at the individual product level and at the portfolio level. Individual product risk must also be assessed in the context of the overall risk profile of the portfolio, as well as within the overall organizational posture.

Without these types of solutions, companies that choose to select and prioritize new product development projects blindly will not recognize success, rather the opposite – higher development costs, more failed products and reduced profitability. Falling into the ‘rest’ category spells ultimate doom.

There is no shortcut to put a product as a market leader. But, it is still possible to make it by doing it with patience and resolve. You must identify your potential costumer, and also find the detail about them. And finally you must know if and how they can pay for that product. If you did it correctly your product will definitely be a market success.

Here is a list of some of the successful products and worst flops

Volkswagen Beetle - Succeeded

Launched in 1938 was the bestselling single design in history, and the first car to reach twenty million sales (21,529,464 unities ). The last Mexican Sedán Clásico was discontinued in 2003.

Ford Edsel - Flopped

Ford introduced its much-hyped Edsel in 1957 to consumers who waited for years in anticipation for the car they heard would revolutionize the road. What they saw was a vehicle that looked and drove like many other Fords. Ford sold only 63,110 models in the U.S. during the first year and 44,891 in 1959, when the Detroit Company decided to pull the car from the market. Ford's losses on the Edsel were estimated at $350 million.

Coca-Cola – Succeeded

Coca-Cola is in fact the most successful non-alcoholic beverage to date. The Coca-Cola Company has employed some of the most effective advertising techniques in history. Originally intended as a patent medicine to cure diseases, such as morphine addiction, dyspepsia and neurasthenia, the soft drink has since became a sales success all over the world.

Crystal Pepsi - Flopped

In 1992, Pepsi decided they needed a clear cola to go along with their regular drinks. They introduced Crystal Pepsi as “a caffeine-free alternative to regular cola”. They released in after what they considered successful test runs and waited for results.
The drink initially sold decently but quickly fell off. Pepsi tried to save the campaign by changing the name to Crystal by Pepsi, a citrus drink instead of a clear cola but that flopped too and Crystal Pepsi was discontinued in 1993 after only being introduced in 1992. It lasted a little longer in Europe but, not much longer.

Bic - Succeeded

Société Bic is a company based in Clichy, France, founded in 1945, by Baron Marcel. Bic sells some 22 million pens and other stationery items every day.
Known for making disposable products including lighters, magnets, ballpoint pens, shaving razors and watersports products. The Bic pen, was the company's first product and 50 years later is still synonymous of ballpoint pen.

Colgate Kitchen Entrees - Flopped

Undoubtedly one of the most bizarre brand extensions ever. Colgate decided to use its name on a range of food products called Colgate's Kitchen Entrees. Needless to say, the products did not take off and never left U.S. soil.

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Taxis Around the World

A 2008 report in Fortune said that Goldman Sachs hired about 300 MBAs in 2007 and that, last year, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup were planning to hire 160 and 235 MBAs, respectively. Is it just a coincidence that so many superstar minds arrived on Wall Street just as it started to fall into one of the biggest crisis ever?

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Do you want to know about a good investment? Ask a cab driver. Investing in stocks has been a tough business, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 posting a total return of -13% since the start of 2000. Boring old bonds have fared better (Pimco Total Return Fund returned 46%), while commodities have done best of all (crude oil has nearly tripled, for example). But the really big money has been made in New York City taxis. The value of a city taxi medallion has jumped 179% this decade, to $760,000 last month, outperforming just about every asset save for gold, which has risen 245%.

Believe it or not Bruce Kovner, a former NYC Cab driver turned $3000 he borrowed off his credit card into a multibillion-dollar fortune trading forex. Looks like an urban myth, but it is true.

Taxicab Drivers are the best-informed person that you can count on, if they are in good mood, of course. They will give you the best information available about everything, the best place where a single guy could meet beautiful girls, best and cheapest place to sleep and eat, not to mention the latest news on politics.

The word Taxi came from Taximeters, invented in ancient Rome, where they employed a mechanism that used the turning of the cart's axle to release small balls. At the end of the trip, the passenger paid based on the number of released balls. The modern taximeter was invented by the German Wilhelm Bruhn in 1891, and the Daimler Victoria—the world's first meter-equipped (and gasoline-powered) taxicab—was built by Gottlieb Daimler in 1897. And the word Cab is an abbreviation of cabriolet, a type of horse-drawn carriage. In Britain, the word taxicab is rarely used. In the U.K., taximeter cab was shortened to taxi and cab, and these were and are used separately to distinguish between type of service and/or vehicle.

The word Taxi is universal (words, which are used in many countries with the same meaning such as Hotel or Sofa) as well as the service, but every city is proud of having their own characteristic Taxi services, normally provided by automobiles, but various human-powered vehicles, (such as the rickshaw) and animal-powered vehicles (such as the Hansom cab) or even boats (such as water taxies or gondolas). Here are some of the most-extravagant and beautiful Taxis you may find around the world.

BANGKOK TUK TUK

TAXI OF BANGKOK - THAILAND

TAXI DE BARCELONA

TAXI DE BARCELONA - EXPAÑA

TAXI OF CAIRO

TAXI OF CAIRO - EGYPT

TAXI OF SINGAPORE

TAXI OF SINGAPORE

HAVANA COCO TAXI

COCO TAXI DE LA CIUDAD DE HAVANA - CUBA

BEIJING TAXI

TAXI OF BEIJING - CHINA

TAXI DE MADRID

TAXI DE LA COMUNIDAD DE MADRID - ESPAÑA

TAXI OF MILAN

TAXI OF MILAN - ITALY

TAXI OF NEW YORK

YELLOW CAB OF NEW YORK - USA

TAXI OF NEW DELHI

TAXI OF NEW DELHI - INDIA

TAXI DE MEXICO

TAXI DE LA CIUDAD DE MEXICO - MEXICO

TAXI OF MOSCOW

WOMAN 'PINK' TAXI OF MOSCOW - RUSSIA

TAXI OF LONDON

LONDON BLACK CAB OF LONDON - UK

TAXI DE LISBOA

TAXI DE LISBOA - PORTUGAL

TAXI OF HONG KONG

TUNG CHUNG TAXI OF HONG KONG

TAXI DE BUENOS AIRES

TAXI DE LA CIUDAD DE BUENOS AIRES - ARGENTINA

TAXI DO RIO DE JANEIRO

TAXI DA CIDADE DO RIO DE JANEIRO - BRASIL

TAXI OF TOKYO 1

TAXI OF THE CITY OF TOKYO - JAPAN

TAXI OF TOKYO 2

TAXI OF THE CITY OF TOKYO  - JAPAN

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NIMPS - Near Impossible Solutions

Once Walt Disney quotes “it is kind of fun to do the impossible”. Worldwide, there are lots and lots of people making fun by doing the impossible, trying (and sometimes even achieving) to solve problems deemed unsolvable, building the bridge between real life and dreams. The Trans Global Highway, robots working as housekeeper, ultra realistic prosthetic limbs that are able to regain the sense of touch are some of the articles you may find in NIMPS. Surely you will find inspirational content capable to elevate your spirit, widen your horizons, and maybe even solve your near impossible problem.

Know more about NIMPS – Near Impossible Solutions

State of the art Social Entrepreneurship for Rio Olympics and World Cup

Rio de Janeiro won the vote to stage the 2016 Olympics, becoming the first South American city to host the event. Ruy Cezar Miranda Reis, 63, special secretary for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games expects 2 million tourists in Rio, proposed investments of $11.1 billion in preparation for the games.

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Billionaire Eike Batista was one of the main responsible for Rio’s achievement. Made the Olympics bid part of his personal quest to become Brazil’s champion of infrastructure development. His EBX Brasil SA group said it donated 23 million reais ($12.8 million) to Rio’s campaign -- about a quarter of the 102 million reais that Brazil’s Olympic Committee invested in the competition with four other campaign donors.

Though, we haven’t seen so far any Social entrepreneurship initiative that could help Rio and Brazil to use this giant opportunity to tackle down poverty and some of our social problems.

A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a social entrepreneur assesses success in terms of the impact he has on society as well as in profit and return.

Yan Waligora, 18, architecture student, questioned “What if part of that investment was used to turn Favelas (shanty houses) into the most fascinating hotel complex? - People would safely walk on the streets; local shops would sell Brazilian souvenirs and other Favelas would build house extensions to receive even more tourists, all of this with an exclusive view to the Atlantic, which is amazing from the Favelas heights.

Much of the people that live in Favelas receives very low wages or are unemployed, they could become small entrepreneurs in a nightshift and Waligora has a plan for them.

Rio de Janeiro is not so different from Valparaiso, we could trace a parallel between Valparaiso and Rio de Janeiro with its improvised urban architecture covering the mountains and surrounding the see.

The big difference is that valparaisians are aware about the potential in the region, which conquered the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site upon its improvised urban design and unique architecture. With its magnificent view to the pacific Valparaiso was nicknamed “The Jewel of the Pacific”. In 1996, the World Monuments Fund declared Valparaiso’s unusual system of funicular elevators (highly-inclined cable cars) one of the world’s 100 most endangered historical treasures. Valparaiso also experienced a very well succeed pilot plan for criminality prevention. The Municipality of Valparaiso promotes the safety and good conviviality in the historical center using the concept of participative vigilance. This way, tourists may walk in a considerably safe fashion on the streets.

Being proud of Rio may be difficult for those who live in poverty, surrounded by violence and under one of the worst social conditions in the planet.

Once we overcome this situation, we have another problem to solve - we won’t have time or money to do so.

Maybe “Catadores de Lixo” – Trash catchers and Tetra Pack could help.

The biggest multinational in food processing and packaging is a Swedish company founded in 1951 in Lund, by Ruben Rausing. Tetra Pack is also the leader in recycling is own trash.

Tetra pack unit in Campinas recycle tetrahedral package and the resulting sub-product has wide application in the construction industry.

The package basically made of plastic and aluminum is recycled through the process of drying and grinding in a machine called "hidrapulper", a sort of giant blender, and then extrusion and injection molding. The final result is a material that could be used to produce plastic parts such as shovel, broom, collectors and others.

But, the most interesting process is the one that grinds together plastic and aluminum and presses it all in high temperature, transforming the material into a plate similar to plywood that can be used in the manufacture of partitions, furniture, decorative items and tiles.

The plate could be molded in many different forms and the expressive cost-benefit ratio could be more even better if counting on sponsors. Paint manufacturer such as Suvinil would be in the best place to be seen, turning the Favelas into a beautiful place to look at.

Now that we want to turn Favelas into an architectural marvel, here is another option short excerpt from the article “Social Entrepreneur Branches Out with Tree House Community” by Jennifer:

“If building tree houses for a living sounds absurd, than investing in the construction of an entire community of geodesic, eco-friendly and self-sustaining tree houses in the forests of California must be down right crazy. Dustin Feider – social entrepreneur, Change Agent and Founder of O2 Treehouse – couldn’t disagree more.

As a child building forts and climbing trees in the woods of Wisconsin, Dustin never envisioned his childhood love for tree houses coupled with rock-solid carpentry skills and a passion for sustainability would culminate in a social entrepreneurship career. Dustin is an emerging champion for “living architecture,” a movement fusing art, design and the use of sustainable natural resources for residential and commercial construction.

All of O2 Treehouses are made from sustainable materials and are eco-friendly.
Dustin’s vision for changing the way we build is touching lives across the country. Guided by Buckminster Fuller’s social entrepreneurship and his 100% percent for humanity idealism, an idea based on the thought all people in the world should enjoy nature and architecture, Dustin is building an entire community of green tree houses in California’s Redwood and Doug Firs forests. The O2 Treehouse project relies on eco-friendly and sustainable practices that would pass muster with any bona fide treehugger. Not one hole is drilled into the trees to build these breathtaking, practical structures Dustin designs as backyard retreats, vacation cabins and eco-adventure resorts.

The eco-friendly building process protects trees from restricted growth.

Dustin is nailing down the basics for the Redwood project, which includes finalizing the details for a prefab location in Oakland, where he can pre-build the tree houses, and finding investors.


While Dustin irons out the final details for the Redwood tree house project, he is working on a Venice bamboo structure, which will include two hanging platforms, a catwalk, bamboo sanctuary and rope ladders. He’s prefabricating the structure in the backyard of the Permacultre East house in Mar Vista which has a rich history of improving sustainability and reducing waste.” See more Social Earth

The Mayan message of doomsday is not in the calendar Part II

Maya success Despite the so called “Maya decline” Mayan culture never really vanished. Differently from many other cultures like the Rapa Nui and Egyptians, we could still see Maya people talking in their natural idiom, playing “Juego de Pelota” ( Mayan ballgame), elders’ council still decide de fate of tribes, etc.

As we have seen in the first article The Mayan message of doomsday is not in the calendar, the doomsday of 2012 comprises a range of eschatological beliefs which affirm that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21 or December 23, 2012, which is said to be the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mayan Long Count calendar. These beliefs may derive in part from numerological constructions, archaeoastronomical speculation, alternative interpretations of mythology, or alleged prophecies from extraterrestrial beings. Thought, we could interpret the message of doomsday in other directions. Some Maya tribes took advantage from lessons that they have learned from the effects their own mistakes, and from mistakes of the others to prosper, one good example is Milpa agriculture.

We have also seen that deforestation coincided with a dramatic drop in the Mayan population, but they have learned one of the most advanced and simple form of agriculture – The Milpa

Milpa agriculture - A Milpa is a field, usually but not always recently cleared, in which farmers plant a dozen crops at once including maize, avocados, multiple varieties of squash and bean, melon, tomatoes, chilis, sweet potato, jícama, amaranth, and mucana, Milpa crops are nutritionally and environmentally complementary. maize lacks the amino acids lysine and tryptophan, which the body needs to make proteins and niacin; beans have both lysine and tryptophan, squashes, for their part, provide an array of vitamins, avocados, fats. The Milpa, in the estimation of H. Garrison Wilkes, a maize researcher at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, "is one of the most successful human inventions ever created.

To understand the concept of Milpa, we have to understand the concept of four based Mayan cosmography. A traditional Maya house is constructed over four sticks or columns, each column represents a cardinal direction – north represented by the white maize, south the Yellow maize, east the red one and west the black one. The firmament is supported by the same four columns. The city of Uxmal for example, represent the basis that support Orion constellation. Number four is constantly used, even in Milpa agriculture, they believe that the period of eight years is perfect for the earth to be fertile again. They divided this period in four bases of two years. By the first period of two years an area of forest is selected, and the vegetation is cut and allowed to dry after some period of time, the residual dry vegetation is burned. After two years starts the second period in which they plant Maize crop. After two years the start to plant beans in the same field, the last period of two years they permit the forest to grow up again.

These brand new techniques such as Milpa were transmitted by word of mouth from city to city. The city of Cancuén which means place of serpents, was located in the region of Pasión river subregion of the central Maya lowlands in the present-day Guatemalan Department of El Petén. The Mayan city-state is notable for having one of the largest palaces in the Maya world. It was a major trade center, specializing in jade, pyrite and obsidian. Its strategic position on the Río Pasion helped it dominate trade in the region.

They have coordinated commerce and information. Trading commodities as obsidian they had to deal with the elite of their time, and they discovered that high quality information that arrived from elite could be a very important asset.

Cancuén was at the top of its prosperity, Taj Chan Ahk, one of the city's most powerful Ahaus (Mayan political, religious and military leaders) built the city's palace in 770 A.D.

By that time, Ahaus use to attack neighbor cities and capture enemies alive for later rituals of sacrifice in order to consolidate their power. The destiny of the enemy was often decided in a “Juego de Pelota”, the loser and even the winner (we still don’t know why) had his body painted in blue and was sacrificed. This sort of war or invasion used to have pre-arranged dates and hours to occur. A massacre occurred in Cancuén around 800 A.D, Investigations have shown that the bodies, including the city's ruler at the time, Kan Maax, had been executed and dumped in a cistern,

As traders were no more able to use Passion River as trade route, they start to use other routes and took their knowledge to other cities such as Tulum and Xcaret (the original name of Xcaret was p'ole', from the root p'ol that means "merchandise" or "deal of merchants", which gives an idea of the economical relevance of the site).

After that, Maya culture survived Hispanic colonization, deceases brought by Europeans and truism in the region. Today’s Maya culture adopted Milpa as a way to live in harmony with nature and many directors of archeological sites are Maya descendents. Prophecies of 2012 doomsday could mean the end of Maya civilization through erosion caused by westernization and intermarriage. Their cultural purity and way of life could be under a threat. But this is not the first time they face that sort of menace, Mayan know how to survive and shine.

Evolutionary Economics

Biomimicry should be applied to Economics

Every fisherman in Tsukiji fish market (築地市場 Tsukiji shijō) in Tokyo knows that the fight to the top, in a non productive way, is the worst thing one should do in order not to be eaten.

Leia este artigo em Português

Portunus Trituberculatus, the GAZAMI crab is a Japanese blue crab that is also the most widely consumed species of crab in the world, with over 300,000 tonnes being caught annually the GAZAMI is the best example of nature’s contraproducent behavior. The lack of success of this crab is due to an apparent inherited selfish attitude.Gazami demonstrate some intelligence and are even capable of communicate by drumming or waving their pincers. They are aware about themselves and others.  It is well known that if you put a bunch of GAZAMI crabs in a barrel they would never be able to leave. When one nears the top of the barrel, approaching his escape, one of the other crabs reaches the mate and pulls the crab back down. Another one goes up, and he or she is also pulled up to fall.  This process continues and the only way for them to escape from the barrel is to be sold to someone with lunch or dinner intentions.
Markets are the perfect non-biased teachers of self-reflection and discipline as well as evolution. Studying attitudes of animals like that we could understand our own nature and also learn how to keep up with our social lives. Termites in other hand are proliferating worldwide, and differently from GAZAMI crabs, they are capable of helping each other, looks like they live by the motto “Create more prosperity in the life of others and you shall experience more prosperity in your own life”.
David M. Raup, a biologist at the University of Chicago, identifies in his book "Bad Genes or Bad Look?" that everything about extinction that we thought was true is wrong. The author’s main thesis is that extinction is a mostly random event; due to catastrophes and bad luck, and not related to the process of evolution itself.
There is an interesting but naive chapter in the book on the relation of extinction to industries. Raup argues that most of the companies around today were not in existence 50 years ago, and the cause of their disappearance, merger or bankruptcy corresponds to the causes of species disappearance or phyletic transformation. The author draws parallels between such things as that the total number of companies names was lower 50 years ago, just as biodiversity was less, and that certain industries wax and wane just as species do.
Comparing the extinction of ancient species and old companies brings few points into consideration:1 - Species are temporary but the energy manifested in individuals and markets carries on beyond the gradual understanding of science and reason. (Corporate) death is nothing but an opportunity. Time is nothing but a hubristic attempt to contemplate the unknown;2 - Individual entities, while susceptible to a variety of ills, are more inclined to survive attacks based on the presumption that assumes a large group is present and available to be taken out with the first strike. Less mass = Less possible chance of extinction;3 - Diversification in multiple markets should prove a trusted strategy?4 - Extinction would have taken its toll on multiple organisms, yet somehow these organisms were allowed endure.
Evolutionary economics is a heterodox school of economic thought that is inspired by evolutionary biology. Much like mainstream economics, it stresses complex interdependencies, competition, growth, structural change, and resource constraints. Joseph Alois Schumpeter (8 February 1883 – 8 January 1950) was one of the predecessor of evolutionary economics, economist and political scientist born in Moravia, then Austria-Hungary, now Czech Republic. Schumpeter wrote “Theorie der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung” translated as The Theory of Economic Development (Entwicklung also means Evolution).In Schumpeter's book he proposed an idea radical for its time: The evolutionary perspective. He based his theory on the assumption of usual macroeconomic equilibrium, which is something like "the normal mode of economic affairs". Both economics and evolution employ the notion of optimization, whether optimization of the profit, of a business, or optimization of species for its environmental niche.Howard Aldrich, Geoffrey Hodgson, David Hull, Thorbjoern Knudsen, Joel Mokyr, Viktor Vanberg and others have argued that the general Darwinian principles of variation, inheritance and selection should be applied to social as well as biological entities, despite important detailed differences in the mechanisms and processes involved.Maybe in the future Artificial Intelligence and paleontology would work together in a model that simulates fluctuation of the markets comparing companies to extinct and living animals.

Perhaps Google could base its strategy on algorithms using as a base the events that lead Dimetrodon to evolve into mammals (the large sail at the back of the Dimetrodon which gave rise to the homoeothermics creatures can be compared with the mechanisms of Google search, and its magnificent effect in the global economy). And so Google can plot its next move to an even greater leadership strategy in the future.

Larry Page, Sergey Brin and the Dimetrodon - both have a breathtaking new tool 

Edward O Wilson wrote in 1978 “Human Nature” – Economics can be improved by Darwinian theory. Wilson supports that All Social sciences rely upon implicit models of genetic. (It won a Pulitzer Prize) Even though it was written in 1978, it continues to provide a good overview of much that is still held to be true about human biology and sociology.
He asserted that many human behaviors had genetic basis, like the behavior of termites inside a mound, an idea then disputed by many social scientists and by Marxists intent on remaking humanity.
Today, termites are one of the world's most pervasive and successful insect groups, with about 2,300 known species, mostly in tropical settings, busily at work chewing wood or other plant fiber that protozoa help to digest. They have important ecological roles, helping to create habitat, build soil fertility, recycle nutrients and serve as food for many predators.
On march 2009 Dr. George Poinar discovered the earliest known form of mutualism between an insect and a microorganism ("mutualism," type of symbiotic relationship in which two species help each other) a termite and a protozoa entombed in amber for 100 million years. This particular termite was probably flying around while mating in a wet, humid tropical forest in what is now Myanmar during the Early Cretaceous period.We should take social life in a termite colony as model for today’s economic life, it is flawless. The termites act together simultaneously as one body and cooperate in performing all functions of the community. And, if we consider that some termites live together with at least one million others, we can easily understand the importance of a system of communication that allows termites to provide a working area, come together and join forces against intruders and manage all the other needs of the colony in perfect harmony. This communication system is based on the exchange of chemical signals such as smell or taste.
Perhaps it is in our DNA the origin of our social life, but, once it would not be appropriate for a person to be conditioned like termites, we should not be surprised if in a non-distant future colonies of termite-minded robots would be working in the surface of Moon or Mars.

I’m sure that more and more we will live under the motto “Create more prosperity in the life of others and you shall experience more prosperity in your own life”. In fact I do believe that this attitude is more like a genetic instruction than a religious commandment.