UN Says World Unprepared for Rapid Growth of Cities (+lista de reproducc...

How does one become a Global Citizen?: Tanja Schulze at TEDxBMS

XIX Century: Adam Smith & Karl Marx

International Women's Day, 8 March 2013

From China to Costa Rica, from Mali to Malaysia, acclaimed singers and musicians, women and men, have come together to spread a message of unity and solidarity: We are "One Woman".

Launching on International Women's Day, 8 March 2013, the song is a rallying cry that inspires listeners to join the drive for women's rights and gender equality. "One Woman" was written for UN Women, the global champion for women and girls worldwide, to celebrate its mission and work to improve women's lives around the world.

This year, International Women's Day focuses on ending violence against women — a gross human rights violation that affects up to 7 in 10 women and a top priority for UN Women. As commemorations are underway in all corners of the globe, "One Woman" reminds us that together, we can overcome violence and discrimination: "We Shall Shine!" Join us to help spread the word and enjoy this musical celebration of women worldwide.

For lyrics, full credits and more information on our artists, please visit: http://song.unwomen.org

Healthcare in Spain and other countries

The Spanish crisis from a different point of view

Crisis, unemployment, debt, premium risk... It seems impossible to detach Spain from these words. However, if we pay closer attention, we see Spain is a country full of opportunities!

Six Degrees Could Change The World:

National Geographic Six Degrees Could Change The World: In the 2004 eco-thriller The Day After Tomorrow, director Roland Emmerich dramatized the potential consequences of accelerated global warming. By combining stock footage with computer-generated imagery, the National Geographic special Six Degrees Could Change the World serves as a sort of nonfiction counterpoint. As NASA climate scientist James Hansen cautions, even two degrees Celsius represents a tipping point (from which there is no return). Based on Mark Lynas's Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet and narrated by Alec Baldwin, the program roams from the bushfire-ravaged suburbs of Southern Australia to the drought-stricken farmlands of Nebraska to the rapidly melting glaciers of Greenland. In the process, aerospace engineers, marine biologists, and ordinary citizens share their experiences and predictions. In the end, it's the actual events--rather than the speculative scenarios--that prove most alarming, like the 30,000 deaths that resulted from 2003's European heat wave. While a skeptic might dismiss that tragedy as a statistical anomaly, every continent bears the scars of climate change, like the deforestation of the Amazon and the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. In order to inject some levity, Six Degrees detours to look at a British grape grower who has actually benefited from his country's drier environment and the carbon footprint involved in the creation of that all-American favorite, the cheeseburger (suffice to say, it's considerable). While some of the special effects are hokey--Hansen sitting at a floating desk, for example--the preponderance of compelling data helps to compensate for such lapses.

The 30 Percent Rule (NL)

The 30 Percent Rule

The 30 Percent Rule is a personal income tax reduction for select employees in the Netherlands. It applies to specialized foreign employees who are brought to the Netherlands because their skills are scarce in the Dutch marketplace. The scarcity of work force with particular skills is reviewed annually "The 30% rule".
The purpose of the 30 Percent Rule to compensate employees for the extra costs of their temporary stay in the Netherlands. The effect is to make the Netherlands competitive in the international marketplace for skilled labour, since normal Dutch income tax rates are high (in comparison with other countries) and may discourage some employees from accepting assignments in the Netherlands.
However, there are consequences for possible future unemployment aid, tax deduction for a mortgage and other benefits.
The 30 Percent Rule allows an employer to exempt from income tax up to 30% of the employee's annual remuneration (the "Basis") and used to be applicable for the first 10 years of their stay in the Netherlands Inkomstenbelasting Wet 2001.
New legislation, is in force from 1 January 2012. By new legislation, period is shorted from 10 years to 8 years, with 5 year transition period. Also, foreign students acquiring PhD in the Netherlands are eligible for 30% ruling, even though they were not hired from abroad "Changes in 30% rule".
The Dutch tax authority allows for two options:

• 30% tax-free is reimbursed based on registered receipts for extraterritorial costs (e.g. maintenance of an own house in the country of origin, travel expenses, relocation costs, language courses, long-distance telephone calls)
• the Dutch tax office can upon an approved application of an employee grant 30% tax exemption on the employees remuneration.

In addition, the employer may provide a tax-free reimbursement of the fees paid for the employee's children to attend an international school.
The Dutch income tax law does not, however, specify, how will the benefit of the 30% rule be divided between the employee and his/her employer. Some employers (e.g. Shell B.V.) have stipulated in their general working conditions that the 30% rule benefit is solely for the benefit of the company arguing that salaries of their local workers would not be on par with their foreign work force.
A similar rule also applies to compensate Dutch employees who are assigned to work in designated developing countries or to the Dutch nationals returning to the Netherlands after a substantial period of living abroad.
Note that it typically takes two to three months from the application for the rule to be granted. The excess tax paid in the meantime is repaid to the applicant once the rule is granted.

See also

• Corporate Tax in the Netherlands
• Taxation in the Netherlands
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_Netherlands